


green flares

by dizzyondreams



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), M/M, Modern AU, Sci Fi AU, basically canon right, jean is Bitter and eren is Tortured By His Past, loosely men in black au ??, not past jeanmarco just thought i should clarify ok
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-27
Updated: 2015-01-27
Packaged: 2018-01-26 16:48:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 32,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1695452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dizzyondreams/pseuds/dizzyondreams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An extraterrestrial ship crashes out in Kansas (the middle of nowhere, to be specific) where, fifteen years earlier, an identical ship crashed in the exact same place, killing a woman and leaving her children orphans. Now, Jean Kirschtein has to travel to Lakin, Kansas with the son of the dead woman, Eren, to try and catch an alien, bring it back (alive or dead), prove himself to be competent agent after the disaster with Marco two years ago...all the while trying not to find his irritating partner to be the most attractive thing he's ever seen. It's gonna be a <i>long</i> few days.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was yet another sweltering hot day, far too hot for all this black suit _bullshit_ , Jean thought as he tugged at the starched collar of his shirt. He was playing solitaire, his work minimised on the toolbar, trying to look productive but definitely failing. Every so often he’d catch Agent Levi's eye, and duck his head behind his monitor to avoid his gaze. He definitely did not need to draw attention to his procrastination by the head of the department. 

He was watching the cards bounce across his screen with mild interest when he sensed someone come to stand behind him and pause, waiting. Slowly, with a strong sense of dread, he turned around in his chair and came face to face with Levi. Jean closed his eyes, wishing he'd had the mind to minimise his game, at least.

"Sir." He said stiffly, rolling back a little bit to put some space between them. Levi's cool gaze flicked from the screen behind him and back to Jean.

"Did you receive the case files?" He asked, voice cold. Not that his voice wasn't normally cold, but Jean detected even more of a chill in his tone than usual. Internally, he winced.

"Yeah, I- um. Had a look over them." He lied. He hadn't even read through them, just had a quick scan over them before going back to his solitaire. The sound of the room filled the minute of silence that followed his words, people talking on phones, the tapping of keyboards, Connie's loud obnoxious laughter from a couple of stations away. Levi sighed.

"Read the hard copies I left in your tray, then come to Hanji's lab in ten minutes." He relayed the instructions mechanically, disinterestedly. "Don't be late." He said in a hard voice before departing, his impeccably shined shoes clicking purposely across the floor. 

Jean sighed and wilted in his chair, running a hand over his face. He tugged at the collar of his shirt again, wishing he could just pop the first two buttons, loosen the tie a little.

"Fieldwork?" An amused voice said, and Jean spun around in his chair to begin rifling through his in-tray, whilst throwing a quick, "Guess so." in the direction of the voice.

Marco, his previous partner before an injury had him confined to desk work, was leaning over the partition between their desks and grinning. Jean shrugged at him before unearthing the case files from beneath a week old bagel and a pile of bullshit Connie had printed out and thought it would be funny to put in his tray.

"Exciting." He commented, watching as Jean stood and gathered his things, tucking the files under his arm. He could read the files on the walk to Hanji's lab, he'd have to be quick. Levi absolutely loathed lateness.

"You know, Marco," He said, hunting through his desk drawers for his phone. "I thought all this alien crap would be a lot more exciting." He found it and tucked it into his suit's inner pocket. "Thought I'd at least see one of the bastards."

"I saw one once." Marco said lightly.

Jean stopped, gave him a curious look. "Did you?"

Marco adopted a wistful expression. "Yeah, back in the summer of '69, out of my mind on acid-"

Jean snorted and kicked his chair under his desk, minimized his solitaire game. "Shut the fuck up, Marco."

"Good luck!" Marco called after him as he left, walking quickly in the direction of the basement labs.

The basement was a lot cooler than the higher levels, and Jean sighed gratefully as he jogged down the long corridor, trying to look professional and avoid breaking into a full on sprint as he checked his watch. He'd had a look at the files as he walked; the usual nutjob story about lights in the sky, spaceship crashes, the lot. It was curious though, because normally these cases were dismissed or a couple of rookie agents were sent out as practise with dealing with alien nutjobs. He wondered why this one had been actually processed and put through to a higher agent like himself, let alone be enough to grab the attention of Levi. Hanji, not so much. If she could, she'd investigate every apparent alien sighting that came through. 

He stopped at the door of Hanji's lab and knocked, pausing briefly before coming in. Hanji was in her usual position at her desk and looked up from the microscope when Jean entered. She gave him a wide grin and beckoned him closer.

"Kirschtein? Is that Kirschtein?" She squinted short-sightedly at him until he came closer and she grinned again. "Yes, Jean, hello. Sorry, can't seem to find my glasses."

Levi, who was standing over by the wall, peering at a mass of _something_ suspended in amber liquid, sighed. "They're on your head, idiot."

Hanji patted the top of her head and beamed as she unearthed a cracked and scratched pair of glasses from her birds nest of hair. "Of course they are. Jean, take a seat."

He pulled a lab stool up and sat, noting the various empty coffee mugs littering the lab desk and the slightly manic edge to Hanji's smile. It look like she'd pulled another all-nighter. There was a stain on her lab coat that had been there last time Jean had seen her, which must have been a week ago. Sometimes, Jean wondered how Levi managed to put up with someone like Hanji. They were the complete antithesis of each other. Hygiene-wise at least.

Absently, Hanji cleared a space on her desk, brushing everything to the side so she could lay out an similar case file to Jean's, spreading the papers around. Out of the corner of his eye, Jean saw Levi flinch at the disorganised mess. 

"Right, yes. Aliens." Hanji stared at the papers in front of her for a minute. "Okay."

Jean shot a look at Levi, but he was looking at the jars again. The big dissecting table stood to the side, looking ominous with it's overhead light and steel restraints. Jean looked down at his hands.

"What do you think, Jean?" Hanji was looking at him expectantly. Jean must have looked lost, because she laughed and elaborated. "The case. What do you think of the case?"

Jean shot another look in Levi's direction. "Um, alien whackjob? The usual?" He remembered who he was talking to with a start. Hanji was _the_ resident Alien Whackjob. "Sorry."

Hanji smiled and shook her head. "No, no, you're right." She shuffled the papers around before extracting one with blurry pictures attached. "That's what we thought, initially. We sent a couple of agents out just to have a look around, just protocol you know, but they found something rather...interesting." She slid the paper towards Jean, and tapped the largest picture. "That's what they found at the crash site."

The picture was grainy, black and white, but the ship was unmistakable. Small, absolutely wrecked. It was hard to tell in the greyscale photograph, but it looked badly burned. Jean felt a thrill of anticipation and fear go through him.

_Aliens._

\---------

"Of course, it's all confidential." Levi said tersely as they walked back from the labs, Jean hurrying to catch up with Levi's fast pace, despite their considerable height difference.

"Of course." Jean said, skirting around a pillar and almost dropping his files in an effort not to collide with it. Levi swept on, leaving Jean to catch up.

"You'll have a meeting with Smith in the morning." Levi continued, once Jean was at his side again. "And a new partner assigned to you. You'll be briefed, then sent out to the site. Hanji will be sending someone on her end with you to aid in the recovery of the ship, but you and your partner's job is to find whatever was piloting that ship and bring it back here. I don't care if it turns out it's all fucked up in the ship, I don't care. It needs to be back here. If the bastard is alive, try to take it alive for Hanji's sake more than anything."

Jean gave him a sidelong glance, surprised. It would be a lot more trouble to bring back a living specimen. Though it would make Hanji's year, he supposed. It was surprising to see Levi so sentimental.

"Yes, sir." He said, as it seemed Levi was waiting for a response from him. "Uh, sir? Do you know who my partner will be?" He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t hoping for Marco to be let back into the field - he was a good agent and a good friend and Jean would feel a hell of a lot better about possibly having to kill shit if Marco was there.

“Some rookie who Smith wants to try out in the field.” Levi said shortly. Jean was impressed, if Smith was personally interested in an agent they must be good. 

They walked in silence until they reached the main control room, where they parted ways, Levi reminding him once more to be in Agent Smith’s office at seven a.m sharp the next morning. Jean nodded before retreating to his desk, slumping into his chair and clutching the case file to his chest like a lifeline. He thought of the pictures inside, the burnt out ship, the size of the crater. The feeling from earlier, a mix of trepidation and excitement, shivered through him again. Aliens. Possible evidence of actual _aliens_. Jean never thought he’d live to see the day a real case came across his desk.

“So, what’s the verdict?” Marco scooted himself over in his chair to crowd into Jean’s cubicle. His leg still stuck out awkwardly from him, and Jean felt a wash of guilt at the sight, but he covered it up with a smile and a shake of his head.

“Confidential.” He muttered, and tapped the side of his nose. Marco’s eyes lit up.

“No shit?” He cried, then lowered his voice when a couple of people looked around. “You’re kidding.”

“I didn’t say anything.” Jean said airily, laying his case file on the desk and opening up his game of solitaire again. Marco laughed suddenly.

“Shit!” He leaned back in his seat, looking stunned. “Do you know who they’re sending out with you?”

Jean winced internally at the bare hope in Marco’s voice, thinking again of his leg, of the explosion that ruined his dreams. “Some new guy.” He said lightly. “Smith wants to try him out, he must be good.”

Connie, who had gravitated over at Marco’s exclamation, Sasha in tow, made a surprised noise. “That can’t be Eren Jaeger?”

Jean spun in a lazy circle in his chair, giving Connie a curious look. “Who’s that? The name sounds familiar.”

“He’s one of the new batch of agents.” Connie said, settling himself on the edge of Jean’s desk, obviously in for a long conversation. Sasha was poking at Jean’s practically sentient bagel, he swatted her away. “Came in with his sister - she’s the real prodigy.”

“How?” Marco asked.

“Well, apparently on the entrance test she got full marks and did better than Smith did, even. The only person to ever do that well on the test was Levi.” Connie said in a low voice. “I heard Levi wants to train her up personally.”

“Christ.” Jean said, sitting back in his chair. He remembered his entrance test well, a gruelling exam that lasted six hours and covered everything from written testing to weapon proficiency. “But Eren?”

Connie waved a hand, “Oh, he’s got some personal grudge or something. He did well, but I think Smith just wants to utilise his fucking single-mindedness, or whatever.”

“You should recognise his name, as well.” Sasha piped up from her position perched on the edge of Marco’s chair. “Jaeger.” She raised her eyebrows. 

“Oh!” Connie exclaimed, and pointed at Sasha, who grinned back, nodding. “Fuck!”

Jean and Marco watched the exchange in bemusement. “Okay.” Jean said. “How about you elaborate for those of us who don’t have some kind of freaky mind meld?”

“Jaeger!” Sasha stressed. “The Jaeger case, remember? It’s on the exam every year, you must have studied it?”

Jean frowned, trying to cast his mind back. It _was_ familiar, he could almost remember it…something about a crash out in the middle of nowhere…

“Oh.” Marco said quietly. “The last recorded time they managed to seize living specimens.”

“Oh fuck!” Jean nodded. It was coming back to him. “In the late eighties, right? That woman died on impact.” He thought hard, then looked up at Sasha, stunned. “Oh, shit. That was his mother. The two kids went into custody of the state after their mother was killed and their father disappeared. Jaeger! Of course!”

“Didn’t his father run off with some of the material from the crash?” Marco asked, staring at the ground.

“That’s what they thought.” Sasha said. Connie nodded vigorously.

Jean put a hand to his forehead, shocked. “Fuck, I’m gonna be working with him.” God only knows what he’d be like. 

“I heard he’s a real asshole.” Sasha said sagely. Jean groaned.

“That’s just my luck.” He muttered. 

“Yeah.” Sasha said sympathetically. “Oh, shit, Levi.” She hopped off the edge of Marco’s seat and brushed her skirt down. “Better be going. Good luck for tomorrow, Jean.”

Jean nodded tiredly, accepting the slap on the shoulder from Connie as he went past.

“I’m sure it won’t be too bad.” Marco assured him before moving back to his own cubicle. “He’s probably just a normal kid.”

Knowing Jean’s intense bad luck, Jaeger was going to turn out as big of an asshole as the rumours said. Or worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so okay this was supposed to be an askbox prompt that got wildly out of hand as is currently sitting at 12k words on my computer. staring at me. i just love sci-fi and i love erejean and i love boys in black suits and shoulder holsters so. enjoy this. i hope u do.
> 
> i'll probably try and update this weekly, maybe every monday depending on how exam studying goes etc. i'll tag it fic: green flares if anyone wants to track it to keep up with updates!! i'm not sure how long it's gonna turn out but....also my tumblr is girlshinji fyi
> 
> ok sorry yes thank u enjoy point out any errors you spot!!


	2. Chapter 2

Wednesday morning started bright and early for Jean, though thankfully it was more overcast than the previous day, so it didn’t feel like he was sweating out of his suit on the walk to Smith’s office. Seriously, who’s idea were the black suits? Sure, they looked great, but practical? No way.

Jean hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep, his omnipresent insomnia as well as nerves over the operation keeping him awake and staring at his ceiling. He eventually gave up at around four a.m and spent the remaining time packing some clothes and necessities for his trip to the middle of fucking nowhere.

He blamed the three cups of coffee he’d downed before leaving - anything to keep him alert during his briefing - on how nervous he felt as he rapped on the door to Smith’s office and waited for his deep voice to tell him to come in.

“Good morning, sir.” He said, trying to will himself to seem awake and present. Smith was seated at a place around a large round table, a cup of coffee steaming in front of his clasped hands. Next to him, a dark, twitchy boy was fiddling with the lid of his own coffee. Eren Jaeger, Jean assumed. He didn’t seem like much, slight and a little shorter than Jean, tense but looking oddly confident next to Smith. He shot Jean a curious look through his tangle of overgrown hair but his gaze skittered away when he found Jean already looking at him. Jean blinked. The kid had the most amazing eyes Jean had seen. A dark green that looked out of place with his olive skin and twitchy hands. 

“Morning, agent.” Smith said, and gestured towards a seat. “Please sit, Levi will be here in a minute, he’s retrieving Hanji.”

Returning Smith’s smile, Jean took a seat opposite Eren and nodded in his direction. Eren pressed his lips together and nodded back. 

“I’m Jean.” He said, for lack of anything better to say. “I heard you only just joined.”

“Yeah, did the entrance exam a couple of weeks ago.” Eren said with a glance towards Erwin. “I’m Eren.”

Jean shook his hand, wondering if everyone was over-exaggerating about Eren being an asshole, or whether he just wasn’t going to let it out in front of the head of the division. Jean wondered if it would be prudent to mention his mother. He guessed not.

“How’s Marco?” Smith asked pleasantly, like they weren’t sitting in a room with pictures of a crashed alien spacecraft between them, like Eren Jaeger wasn’t biting his fingernails down to the quick at the sight of them. A thought struck Jean suddenly; would Eren be able to cope with the situation that was so similar to the one which caused his mother’s death? He supposed they’d find out.

“He’s doing well.” Jean answered, putting those thoughts out of his mind. If he passed the test, he’d be fine in the field. Jean would just have to trust with Smith that Eren was the right guy for the job. “The physiotherapy is going well, at least.”

“Good.” Smith said, expression betraying nothing. Jean wasn’t sure what to make of the man, who seriously had framed pictures of an unsmiling Levi posing with an equally grumpy cat on his desk, but managed to have a reputation for being the best in the field. Maybe you just had to be an oddball to want to be in this line of work. Jean wondered what that made _him_. “It wasn’t your fault, Kirschtein.”

Jean’s head snapped up at that, and he fixed Smith with a stunned look. Well, that was right out of left field. Eren was looking between them, curiosity plain on his face. As Jean tried to school his expression into something a little less _stunned_ , Levi entered the room, trailing an excitedly chattering Hanji who seemed to be carrying the entire contents of her lab. Behind her followed a shorter, sheepish looking man.

“Good evening!” She said brightly, and spilled everything from her arms onto the desk. “Or is it morning? I’m never sure anymore. Jean, catch that will you?”

A small glass vial fetched up against Jean’s arm from where it had rolled away from the heap of stuff tipped from Hanji’s arms. He picked it up gingerly, not looking at the contents as he passed it back to Hanji.

“Thank you.” She said, then rounded on Smith. Eren was looking at her like she’d grown another head. It _was_ quite an experience meeting Hanji for the first time. “Erwin! How are you? Is this Eren? Nice to meet you, I’m Hanji. I dissected the alien found in the crater in your house - how strange is that?” She grinned at Eren, whose expression had suddenly become very closed and still. 

“Very strange.” Was all he said, and shot Jean an unreadable glance before going back to fiddling with his coffee cup. 

“Ah, Hanji, why don’t you - yes, okay.” Smith shot Levi a helpless look. Levi rolled his eyes and pushed on Hanji’s shoulders until she sat. “Okay.” Looking slightly thrown off, Smith rustled through the papers in front of him. Hanji fell silent, righting her jars and sorting things into some semblance of order that must have only made sense to her. The man next to her righted a couple of jars and passed her a copy of the file. Jean felt very much that he was some sort of spectator to a strange sideshow act. 

Smith cleared his throat, “Alright. So, this is the situation. Three days ago, on the 15th of June, at four in the morning, a local farmer heard a crash and an explosion when he was milking his cows. Taking a gallon of water with him,” Hanji snorted at that and scrawled something on the paper in front of her, “he drove out with his son to investigate. What he found was a crater which was measured to be roughly four metres by five, on fire. He drove back to his home, rang the fire service, who arrived, put out the blaze, found _this_ ,” Smith tapped the grainy photo of the ship, “and rang _us_.” He paused and looked around the table. “That’s the short story. Details are in your case files which I want you to _thoroughly_ read on the journey if you haven’t already.”

Jean stared down at the file in front of him, thumbing through the report notes. Phrases like, _‘superior technology’_ and _‘unnatural flames’_ jumped out at him. He closed it, knowing it’d be better to read it later and absorb it properly. He glanced across at Eren, who looked rather grey. He looked like he was about to speak, and Jean watched him closely. 

“Any causalities?” He said at last, trying to sound offhand but failing miserably. Jean felt a little sorry for him, this all must hit very close to home, but hoped that he wouldn’t prove a liability. 

“None.” Smith said briskly. Eren nodded and dropped his gaze to the folder. His hands were clenched into fists on top of the desk. Jean thought he looked very young.

“We’re sending you two,” Smith nodded at Jean and Eren in turn, “into the field. You will watch each other’s backs and form a close bond in the small amount of time given to us. Ideally you’d have time to train together, but we don’t have that luxury. Eren is a fast learner, and Jean has been in the field before and has worked here for long enough. You’ll be able to work well together.” Smith gave Jean a long look before turning his gaze to Hanji. Unbidden, his words echoed through Jean’s head, _it wasn’t your fault, Kirschtein._ Jean swallowed and shot a covert glance at Eren.

“Hanji, who are you sending out for retrieval of the craft?”

Hanji clapped a hand on the shoulder of the man next to her. “Moblit. Faithful Moblit is going to bring it back for me.” She grinned across at Jean and Eren. “Don’t you worry, he’s quiet as a mouse.” Moblit gave them a weak smile.

“Okay, Moblit your job is more of an in and out operation. Get the craft, and leave Jean and Eren to try and locate the specimen. You’re not trained for it, but they are. Understood?” Moblit bobbed his head nervously. “You’ll be sent down ahead of them.” Moblit nodded again.

“What are we actually doing, though?” Jean asked, shooting Levi a glance as he spoke. Levi flicked his eyes towards Erwin, who was staring down at the pictures in front of him.

“You will try and find the specimen by any means possible, _unless_ we find evidence of anything being in the ship when it gets back here. We have reason to believe there _was_ extraterrestrial life within the ship, so it’s of the utmost importance to retrieve it and contain it.” He gestured towards Levi. “Levi will supply you with the tools you need. All the information is in the file.”

“Um, where is it?” Moblit ventured quietly. 

“Kansas.” Erwin said. Out of the corner of his eye, Jean noticed Eren go very still. “Where, fifteen years ago, a ship carrying life inside crashed in the exact same spot.”

There was a dreadful silence in the room, broken only by the sound of Eren scraping back his chair to leave the office.

\------------

The flight to Kansas went by in almost complete silence. Eren slept most of the way, cheek pillowed rather endearingly against the window of the plane. Jean read through the report, made some notes, thought about the case, the aliens, the acute boredom he was currently suffering from. Anything but the Jaeger case.

When sleep continued to evade him, Jean stared at Eren, wondering what he’d seen, what he’d been through. Why he’d ever want to go into a profession that dealt with what destroyed his family.

After he’d left the room, they’d wrapped up the briefing fairly quickly. Hanji, of all people, went to go get him, but maybe it was for the best, because he returned composed and apologetic for how he’d acted. He’d even managed to get cocky at Jean just before they boarded the plane. Something about not treating him like a special case, or talking down to him, because he was better than Jean. That had kinda stuck in his throat, but Jean had let it go and blamed it on the kid being a bit emotional, still. He hoped to god it was anyway. No way was he gonna be able to deal with some cocky upstart kid who thought he was hot shit because he was on fieldwork barely a month after passing his entrance tests. 

The flight passed slowly without the escape of sleep, and a couple of times he found himself staring at Eren without any reason for it. Maybe it was just him zoning out from lack of sleep. Maybe it was because Eren wasn’t so bad to stare at, if he was being objective. 

At one point, Eren unstuck his face from the window, muttered a surly, “Stop staring at me.” and proceeded to knock out with his face pressed against Jean’s arm. Jean just shook the little shit off and tried to get some shut eye.

They landed in Kansas City airport at three in the afternoon, and as soon as they stepped off the plane, Jean was glad he’d ditched the black suit for the trip. It was _boiling_. Like the eighth circle of hell, on fire. If Jean thought Virginia was hot, he was in for something different. He thought mournfully of the black suits folded up in his case, and vowed to avoid them for as long as was professional. People _expected_ the black suit. If he and Eren turned up looking like a pair of hippies, they’d get turned away. _Hey man, is it cool if me and my cut-offs have a look around in your backyard for aliens?_ Yeah, they’d be on the first flight back to Virginia before they could blink.

They went through baggage claim, lost Eren’s bag momentarily (which was distressing considering the amount of firearms they’d gotten through in his bag, courtesy of the United States government) found it again, and piled into a taxi to take them to Topeka, where they’d rest up for the night before beginning the journey to the middle of bumfuck nowhere. Or more accurately, Garden City, where a few miles out there was the town of Lakin, the site of the impact. 

“Shall we find a motel?” Eren ventured, when the taxi dumped them, bags and all, on the side of the road. Jean looked around him. 

“Where do you suggest we find that?” He asked, not unkindly. 

“Ask for directions?” Eren asked, like Jean was being an idiot, or something. Jean shrugged and rolled his eyes.

“If you find someone willing us point us in the direction of a motel, you’re free to do so.”

Eren gave him a dirty look. Within five minutes, they were on their way to a Holiday Inn, directions provided by a friendly old woman who’d fussed over Eren’s ‘handsome young man’. Jean was finding this trip a lot harder than he’d envisioned, and they hadn’t even entered the correct city yet. Eren just gave him a smug smile and walked a few steps ahead, like he was a big shot because he could charm directions out of an old lady. Jean could charm an old lady. Hell, a park bench could charm an old lady. 

Once you got past the odd sympathy for Eren, he was a real asshole. Back in Virginia, Jean had felt sorry for him, this kid out of place, miles from home and with a sad story. He’d looked vulnerable next to the huge form of Smith, looked vulnerable sleeping against the window of the plane. Jean had seen the look in his eyes before he left the briefing. Eren was scared and angry and upset, but he was still an asshole. 

Right now, trailing behind him, sweating in the heat of the day, Jean wished he’d kept that vulnerable, scared thing up. He’d be easier to deal with, anyway. 

“Wait up!” He called, as he lost sight of Eren for a moment. “Eren!” He muttered a curse to himself and tightened his grip on his suitcase, just as Eren’s shaggy head of head came back into view. Jean noted absently that he must be boiling under that mop of hair.

“Keep up.” He said testily as Jean caught up to him. His face was red from the heat, and he kept running his hands through his hair. 

“I’m boiling.” Jean said diplomatically. “You wanna stop for a drink and then carry on?”

Eren gave him an unreadable look. “No, we’ve gotta get to Lakin as soon as possible. You heard what Smith said.”

“Never thought you’d be one to follow the rules that close.” Jean said airily, looking at something over Eren’s shoulder. He grinned when Eren bristled angrily.

“I don’t.” He said. “But we should anyway. We need to get that…thing.” He turned his face away from Jean and crossed his arms. “Before it gets away.”

Jean stared at him a moment longer, the hard set of his jaw, his tight shoulders. “Eren, it’s not going anywhere.” He said. “Where’s it gonna go? It’s probably half-dead, if not completely dead already.”

“I’m not fucking _scared_.” Eren snapped. A couple of people passing them on the street gave them curious looks, and Jean grinned apologetically before rounding on Eren.

“Listen, kid, stop drawing attention to yourself. If you wanna go to the motel, fine, but don’t get pissy about it, alright?”

“I’m not a fucking _kid_.” Eren hissed, but picked up his suitcase and began walking again. Slower this time, Jean thought, or maybe it was wishful thinking. “I’m not much younger than you.”

“How old are you, anyway.” Jean asked, stepping behind Eren for a moment to avoid a woman with a huge dog who barged past. Now that they’d had a little argument, the air between them was less tense. It had probably been building up from before the plane. If this was going to be how Eren let off steam, Jean was gonna be royally pissed off. He didn’t want to be having pointless shitty arguments whenever the kid was feeling nervous.

“I’m twenty-two.” He answered. Jean grunted.

“You’re still a kid.” He stopped and looked around. “Where are we going?”

“How old are you then?” Eren challenged, his green eyes like lasers on Jean. Wordlessly, he pointed in the direction they were headed, and they set off again.

“Twenty-six.” Jean said, wiping a hand over the sweat on his forehead. “Fuck, it’s hot.”

Eren was giving him an incredulous look. “You’re not that older than me. You can’t call me a kid.”

“It’s _experience_ , kid.” He drawled with a grin. Eren glared back.

“Shut the fuck up.” He said, and walked a little faster so they wouldn’t have to speak. Jean grinned at his back. This was gonna be way easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok!! eren's a little shit!! hope u enjoyed this chapter!! comments are appreciated and as always point out any mistakes u see! exclamation marks!!


	3. Chapter 3

The motel room was just about as glamorous as Jean expected it to be. Twin beds, thank god, a dingy little bathroom, a TV set that later Eren found to be broken, and a table that Eren immediately began to unpack his case on.

“Please don’t take every firearm out of your case to array attractively in full view of the window.” Jean said dryly as he dropped his case near his bed. “We wouldn’t want to attract the scum.”

“I’ll close the curtains.” Eren bit back, but began packing their various weaponry back in his case. 

“I’m gonna shower.” Jean said, shutting himself in the bathroom before Eren could complain. To his credit, Eren only banged on the door twice before a squeak of bed springs suggested that he’d flopped onto the bed. Just to make sure, Jean flipped the lock before undressing and stepping into a blessedly cool shower.

As he scrubbed shampoo through his hair, he reflected on the probable few days of hell that he’d be subjected to before they could get the hell out of this state and back to some kind of normalcy. As it stood at the moment, Jean wouldn’t be upset if he never spoke to Eren again. Maybe the next few days would change that, or maybe they’d get worse. It wasn’t like he hated the kid, he was just had a short temper and a big ego and a rather interesting sub layer of strange vulnerability. He rinsed his hair, scowling into the spray as he pictured the stupid fight from earlier. Eren’s strange insistence that they get there as soon as possible. Was he really that eager to go back to the place where his mother was killed?

When Jean got out of the shower the motel room was empty and Eren was nowhere to be seen, even when Jean leant out the door to look. His bags and stuff were still there, even his pack of smokes on the coffee table, so Jean kicked back on his bed and waited for him. Just as punishment for leaving without telling Jean, he smoked two of his cigarettes. The second one was more out of spite than anything, and left Jean feeling vaguely sick.

Eren came back around an hour after Jean had realised he was gone, whistling tunelessly and swinging a plastic 7/11 bag as he kicked the door shut and sat on the bed to pull off his shoes. Jean shot him a look from where he was lying down, head propped up against the headboard. His phone was on his chest, texting Marco, and pinged when Eren looked over.

“Where’ve you been, then?” Jean asked as it became clear Eren wasn’t going to explain himself. Eren’s ignored him and dug through the plastic bag by him. The unmistakable sound of cans knocking against each other could be heard, and Jean rolled his eyes. “What, you gonna get drunk on the first night?”

Eren shot him an easy grin, like they hadn’t been bickering since the airport. “I thought _we_ could get drunk on the first night.”

Jean stared. “Dude, you’ve been an asshole since we left Virginia. Why would I want to get drunk with you.”

Eren scowled and cracked open a can of beer. “Maybe because we’re partners and we’re just gonna have to _try_ and make this work?” He took a long drink, then tossed one to Jean. It bounced onto the bed next to him, and rolled into his side, warm from the heat of the day.

“Just because we’re partners it doesn’t mean we have to be friends.” He muttered, grabbing the can and cracking it open with a fizz of bubbles that landed on his t-shirt. “Fuck.”

“Well maybe it would be _nice_ if we weren’t arguing all the time.” Eren countered, sitting cross legged on the bed and sipping from his open can. He looked oddly young like that, all skinny knees in denim cut-offs and big green eyes. Jean took a drink of beer and wondered how on earth this kid ever got a licence for a _gun_. He looked like he should just be getting a licence for his car. 

“It doesn’t make a difference.” Jean grunted. “I’ll watch your back, you’ve got mine. It doesn’t mean we have to be friends. This isn’t a fucking buddy cop movie.”

Eren fell silent, and for a minute, Jean was sure he could enjoy his beer in silence before he piped up again.

“What, you’re trying to tell me that you and your last partner weren’t friends?” Eren snorted derisively and muttered something into his beer can.

“Yes, we were.” Jean said shortly, hoping he’d leave it at that. 

Of course, he didn’t, because he was hard-headed and tactless and everything that Jean disliked. “Still friends? What happened to him?”

“Shut the fuck up.” Jean said tersely. “Don’t talk about him.” He thought of Marco, stuck on desk work for the rest of his fucking life. 

Eren gave him a sidelong glance. “What, you fuck him?”

Jean exhaled loudly. “Okay, fuck this, I’m out.” He swung his legs off the bed and grabbed one of the packs of beer from Eren’s bed. “No, I didn’t fuck him,” He pulled his shoes on and crossed to the door. “Don’t ever ask me about him again.” He doubled back to grab Eren’s pack of cigarettes from the table and tucked him into his back pocket along with the lighter. “Don’t bother me.”

He took the steps down to the shitty motel pool two at a time, trying to stomp out his anger at Eren, himself, the whole fucking _drama_ that was him and Marco, into the unresisting concrete.

Still seething, he dropped the beer onto a wonky plastic table and flopped down into a deckchair that had seen better days. He could see the motel room from where he was, and glared up at it as he lit a cigarette. Where did Eren get off, asking him questions about Marco? For all Eren knew, Marco could be dead. Why else would Jean need a new partner?

He inhaled smoke angrily, too fast, burning his windpipe. He took a drink of beer and muttered a low curse. Yeah, it was just his fucking shitty luck he got paired up with some kid who probably couldn’t tell his ass from a handgun, fuck the entrance test scores. And on top of that, the kid didn’t know when to shut his mouth. 

He tipped his head back against the cracked plastic and exhaled. It was still hot out, but easing into that evening coolness that Jean liked. He rolled his head to the side, regarding the leaf-filled pool with its green water with distaste. Maybe he had been a little over the top about the Marco thing, but seriously, Eren should learn when it was okay to press stuff and when it wasn’t. And the Marco thing was really _not_ a thing to press. If Jean didn’t like talking about it with his family, even, he wasn’t gonna want to talk to some jumped up kid who thought he was something special because he was in with fucking Erwin Smith, or something.

He closed his eyes and took a drag of his cigarette, seeing the accident for the hundredth time. Ball of fire, Marco on the ground, Marco bleeding. He opened his eyes and sighed heavily. Some things never leave a person. He was fairly certain he was going to be replaying that scene in his head for the rest of his life.

He sat out for the rest of the evening, getting slowly drunk as the time passed. Once, he thought of going back up to the room and making things right with Eren - he was right, in a way, partners should be friends - but couldn’t bring himself to. Eren would probably make a comment about him sitting out and brooding for hours, alone. Jean just lit another cigarette and watched as the sky faded purple.

When he did stumble back into the room, past twelve probably, and just past pleasantly drunk, Eren was a snoring lump in his bed. Jean paused at the foot of the bed, looking at the shape of Eren all curled in on himself, and felt a rush of pity for him. Gently, he reached out and shook Eren’s foot. Eren grunted and shifted onto his back.

“Eren.” Jean hissed, wondering if maybe he was a little more drunk than he thought. “Wake up a minute.”

Eren mumbled something indistinct and drew his foot away from Jean. “What?” He whispered, sounding half-conscious and vaguely pissed off. “Fuck off, you’re drunk.”

“No, Eren, wait.” Jean held out a placating hand that Eren didn’t see, his face still buried in his pillow. Eren grunted. “I’m sorry, okay? I was a bastard.” He thought of Eren’s tight expression in the briefing, and frowned to himself. Here he was, acting like a piece of shit when Eren had lost his parents to the exact thing they were trying to chase down. 

Eren didn’t say anything, but pulled his sheets over his head. After a minute of silence with Jean hovering anxiously at the foot of his bed, he mumbled a quiet, “Whatever.” 

Jean waited a second longer, but when it became obvious Eren wasn’t going to reply, he crept back to his bed and slipped between the sheets, still fully clothed and guilty. He lay there for a long time, but the combination of alcohol and more than 24 hours of being awake soon sent him into a fitful, shallow sleep.

\---------

They didn’t mention it the next morning. Not about Marco, not about Jean’s drunken apology. They just packed up their things and left, walked a couple of blocks and hired a car from a surly man with a huge, drooping moustache. He seemed to take offence to Jean, for whatever reason, so Eren took over, slipping into a similar accent to the man that his normal speech only held traces of. Jean watched, entranced, as he chatted away with the man. He even managed to get a discount on the rental price.

“Not just a pretty face.” He said lightly as he dropped the keys into Jean’s palm. “Let’s hit the road.”

It was about a five hour drive to Garden City, and it passed in a blur of prairie broken only by the occasional corn field. Eren and Jean didn’t talk a lot, and switched over half way through to share the drive. Eren drove like he talked, fast and clumsy. Jean wondered how long he’d seen driving for.

“Hey, crop fields.” Eren said once, out of nowhere, throwing Jean a careless grin. Jean gave him a puzzled look in response, leaning on the doorframe to smoke out the window. The crap hanging from the rear-view mirror, an air freshener, a couple of key rings, rattled as they went over a pothole. “You know, crop fields?” Eren prompted, eyes on the road but his face turned towards Jean. “Crop circles.” He said, and laughed. Jean stared, amazed.

“They’re not for real.” He said. “Kids make them, thinking it’s funny to scare some old people. You can’t imagine the amount of calls we get in because some kids got bored and decided to fool around.”

Eren laughed then, bright and sunny, and Jean scowled out the window, at the monotony of brown and green flying past the window. “I know.” He said, sounding a lot happier than he had the past day. “Me and my sister, Mikasa, we used to make them with a couple of kids in town. You get boards, and you flatten down the crops with it.” He laughed again. “This kid, Armin, he was my best friend, he was so good with stuff like that. He’d plan out the pattern and we’d do it exactly as he said, and climb to the top of the hill and it’d be exactly like he planned it.” He shook his head, and Jean noticed his hands tightening on the wheel. “That was before everything, though. Obviously. I wonder what Armin is doing now.”

“I’m sure he’s still there.” Jean said awkwardly. “Maybe you’ll see him.”

Eren’s hands tightened on the steering wheel, before relaxing. “Yeah.” He said quietly. “That would be nice.”

They were quiet after that, the road slipping by under them as they barrelled towards Eren’s past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just kind of a filler chapter i apologise?? hope u enjoy + point out any mistakes thanks for reading !!


	4. Chapter 4

They arrived at Garden City late afternoon and sweated around the town until they found a dingy hotel to sleep in for the night. The hard faced woman at the desk was reading a heavily thumbed romance novel when they stumbled in, and barely looked up from it when Jean asked if there were any rooms available.

“One double.” She said shortly. Eren and Jean looked at each other in dismay.

“Nothing else?” Jean asked, slightly desperate. The car ride down was okay between them, but the thought of having to share a _bed_ with the kid was out of the question. He _snored_. 

“Only doubles.” She said, and folded the corner of her page with a long-suffering air, like they were inconveniencing her, or something. “You gonna take it, or you gonna stand around all day?”

“Suck it up.” Eren muttered quietly. “It’s not like we’ll be spooning.” Jean shushed him, glaring.

They took it, and bickered all the way to their room about who was going to take which side.

“I sleep on the right.” Jean said firmly, hefting his suitcase across the parking lot. “Just be grateful I’m not giving you the floor.”

“You’re the one who should have the floor.” Eren grumbled. “You thrash around in your sleep.”

“I’m a light sleeper.” Jean shot back. “Take the left and I won’t bitch you out for your snoring.”

“I don’t snore.” Eren muttered. Jean ignored him.

The room was tiny, but the TV worked and the bed was big enough for both of them plus some room between. Jean supposed it could be a lot worse. 

“I get first shower.” Eren said, before darting past Jean before he could argue, and slamming the door behind him. Jean rolled his eyes and sat down on the bed, let his head drop into his hands. God, what he wouldn’t give for a good cup of coffee.

He had another read-through of the case files whilst Eren showered, trying to come up with a plan of what to do the next day when they finally arrived in Lakin. When Eren emerged, towelling off his thick mop of hair, another towel wrapped precariously around his hips, Jean held the file up for him to see, jabbing a finger at a photograph attached.

“I think the first thing we do is talk to the farmer.” He said. Eren raked his hair off his face and frowned at the photo.

“No,” He said. “First thing we’re gonna do is get a room, then grab something to eat, _then_ we can find this farmer guy.” 

Jean shrugged and dropped the files onto the bed next to him. “Fine, whatever.” He watched at Eren crossed over to his case and crouched down to rummage through it. A bead of water was running slowly down the middle of his back, and Jean watched, transfixed, as it made its slow descent down the dark skin.

“Hey, earth to Kirschtein.” He looked up when Eren snapped his fingers, and scowled at his teasing smile. “My eyes are up here, old man.”

“Fuck off.” Jean grunted, but still watched him as he crossed back to the bathroom, a bundle of fresh clothes pressed to his chest. Like he wasn’t allowed to _look_. It was hard _not_ to, with all that bare skin on display. It didn’t help like Eren was admittedly gorgeous, all slim and dark and _wet_. Jean dropped his head into his hands again. Too bad Eren was such an insufferable asshole, and probably straight, judging by his dubious choice in Nike tank tops, or else he’d probably make a move for it. Viciously, he reminded himself of Eren needling him about Marco last night, and by the time Eren emerged, fully dressed, Jean was shouldering him out of the way for his own shower, perfectly composed.

When he came out of the shower, Eren was sitting cross-legged in front of his case, gazing intently at a sleek black handgun. He jumped when Jean sat down heavily on the bed, and gave him a sheepish look.

“Why’re you so obsessed with those.” Jean muttered, running his fingers through his hair to try and smooth it into place so it’d dry properly. “You act like you’ve never seen one before.”

Eren gave him a wide eyed look. “I haven’t. Apart from the one we had to shoot for weapon proficiency, but that doesn’t count.” He tucked the gun back into his case and scooted backwards until his back was against the bed. His head was level with Jean’s knee, and he stared down in disbelief at that mass of dark hair.

“You’ve never actually shot a gun?” He asked incredulously. What was Smith _thinking?_ Eren tilted his head back against the bed and gave Jean a surly look.

“That doesn’t mean I can’t do the mission.” He said, thick brows pulled together into that ever-present scowl. 

“Jesus.” Jean flopped back onto the bed and stared up at the water-stained ceiling. “Okay, first thing we do tomorrow on the way to Lakin is stop in a field and teach you how to use a gun.”

“I _know_ how to use a gun.” Eren muttered, his body a warm weight against Jean’s leg. He shook him off irritably. 

“I can’t believe Smith sent you out on this with no _experience_.” Jean groaned, throwing an arm over his face. “What the fuck was he thinking.”

“I have experience!” Eren said, raising his voice a little. The bed dipped slightly as Eren pulled himself up to sit on the edge of it. Jean cast him a disparaging look.

“Your only experience with firearms was that in your _entrance test_.” He said slowly. Eren’s scowl deepened and he leaned forward to poke Jean in the chest.

“I have more experience with this sort of alien _bullshit_ than you.” He gritted out. Jean rolled his eyes. Talk about an overreaction.

“Calm the fuck down, I’m not denying your experience with ’alien bullshit’, as you so succinctly put it, I’m talking about your inexperience when it comes to actual real life scenarios when the thing you’re shooting at is _moving_ and possibly coming _right at you_.” He didn’t bring up the fact that Eren’s so-called experience with aliens was a brief encounter with a spacecraft killing his mother when he was seven years old. Judging by the expression on his face, he probably wouldn’t take particularly well to the reminder. 

Eren bared his teeth a little but drew back from Jean, giving him a dirty look before flopping onto the bed next to him. They lay in silence for a minute, before Jean propped himself up on his elbow to reach his phone.

“It’s only seven.” He said, unlocking his phone to read a text Sasha had sent him. “What’s there to do here?”

“Absolutely nothing.” Eren said wearily. “There’s nothing ever to do.”

“This place is a little bigger than Lakin.” Jean pointed out. “There’s gotta be something.”

“Unless you want to go throw rocks in a pond, there’s nothing to do.” Eren rolled over onto his stomach and propped himself up to talk. “My aunt used to live here, believe me, I was subjected to enough visits to realise the true absence of fun in this town.”

“Shitty coverage too.” Jean commented as his phone told him his message couldn’t be sent. “How did you survive.”

Eren was silent, and when Jean looked over he was giving Jean an incredulous look. “I was seven. I didn’t really worry about shit like that.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Jean said uncomfortably. 

They lay there in silence for a little longer before Eren rolled onto his side and said, “There’s a pool. It’s huge.” He paused. “And a zoo. That’s also huge. We went to the pool a lot.”

Jean snorted. “And here I am with no swimming trunks. Can’t believe I didn’t factor a swimming pool into my alien hunt.”

“Whatever, you asked.” Eren said, playing with a couple of loose threads of the duvet. Jean supposed it should be weird, lying in a bed with a dude he’d met only a couple of days ago. He sat up with a huff.

“We could go buy smokes?” He said, swinging his legs off the bed and poking around for his shoes. “And we gotta get something for dinner, I think we passed a store on the drive in.” He muttered.

“I saw a gas station up the road with a store.” Eren said, still lying on his side on the bed. “Do we have to?”

“You hungry?” Jean asked, pulling his shoes on and standing, tucking his wallet into the back pocket of his jeans. Eren made a whiny noise that Jean took for a yes. “C’mon, don’t leave me to navigate Bumfuck, Kansas on my own.”

“As long as you stop calling every place we stop ‘Bumfuck’.” Eren grumbled, sitting up and reaching for his shoes. “It’s rude, Mr. Major City Bigshot.’”

“I didn’t grow up in Virginia.” Jean said, surprised. Eren came to join him at the door and they stepped outside together, squinting in the late-day sun. 

“Could’ve fooled me.” Eren muttered, staring off up the street as Jean locked the door and put the key in his pocket. They started walking, a little aimless since neither of them knew the right direction to go in. They’d find a store soon enough, probably. 

“What, do I give off a big city vibe?” Jean said with a grin. Eren rolled his eyes at him.

“No, the way you shit-talk small towns.” He said. 

Jean snorted and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Like you don’t.”

“I don’t.” Eren said quietly, kicking a rock along as they walked. “They’re shit, but everyone knows that, and I kinda miss it.” He squinted up the road, mouth turned down at the corners.

“Whatever.” Jean said. Eren’s weird solidarity with small towns aside, he was dying for some good coffee. Or some food. Any food. He wondered how far it was to a store.

“Here?” Eren asked, pointing in the direction of an ugly sea foam green gas station. There was a convenience store though, and nothing else mattered. Jean nodded vigorously. 

It was thankfully cool inside, and the bored teenager at the counter barely glanced up from her phone when they entered, the bell above the door tinkling. Jean went straight to fridges, praying there’d be something decent to eat.

“Why don’t we just go to that barbeque place we passed on the way here?” Eren asked, turning up his nose at the cold pasta pot Jean shoved at him. “This looks gross.”

“I don’t eat meat I don’t cook myself.” Jean muttered, grabbing a couple of cans of beer from the fridges.

“That’s so fucking weird.” Eren commented. Jean shrugged and carted his food to the counter to pay.

“Gonna eat these or?” He asked as the girl bagged the food up. Eren shrugged, looking surly.

“Guess I have no choice.” He muttered, poking at the packs of trail mix before throwing it in with the rest of the food. “Don’t forget smokes.”

“Two packs of Marlboro gold, as well.” Jean said, shooting Eren a _‘are you happy now?’_ look. Eren crossed his arms and raised his eyes skyward.

It was barely half seven by the time they made it back to their room, and Jean resigned himself to a night of poring over the case files and watching shitty TV with Eren. They’d probably be in bed by nine, and then Jean would only have eleven hours of lying awake before they could set out to Lakin. 

“Have you even read the files?” He asked Eren, who was working his way through the whole bag of trail mix. “You gonna eat that whole thing?”

“No, and yes.” Eren said, mouth full, attention trained on the game show he was watching on the fuzzy TV screen.

“Even the peanuts?” Jean asked, incredulous. Somehow, the fact that Eren was willing to eat peanuts was more offensive to him than not bothering to read the case files.

Eren shot him a dark look. “The peanuts are the best part.”

Jean raised his eyebrows and turned back to the files. “And you thought I was the weird one.”

“You are.” Eren said, and patted the space next to him on the bed. “You don’t have to sit on the floor, y’know. I don’t bite.” He shot Jean a tiny little smirk, lowering his eyes a little. “ _Much_.”

“You’re unbelievable.” Jean muttered, but picked himself up from the floor and settled against the headboard next to Eren.

“So you nervous for tomorrow?”

“No.” Eren said after a tiny pause. “You?”

Jean stole a handful of trail mix, picked out the m&ms and tipped the rest back in. Eren made an annoyed noise. “Kind of. The last time I was in the field it ended pretty bad, so a lot is riding on this.” He paused, chewing. “Also, you know, real life alien.”

“Yeah.” Eren said, with a hint of dread in his voice. “Real life alien.” They were silent for a moment, eating and watching the TV, before Eren asked quietly, “Do you think it’s still there?”

Jean shrugged and tipped the rest of the m&ms into his mouth. “Haven’t heard anything from Hanji, so I guess so. Moblit would’ve brought the ship back by now, maybe. They’d have called if it was still in there.” 

“You said you were having bad cell coverage, though, right?” Eren huffed out an awkward little laugh. “Maybe they tried to call.”

“I dunno, maybe.” He glanced over at Eren, who looked a bit pale. Jean cracked his knuckles nervously. “You alright?”

Eren gave him a nervous little smile. “I’m really scared of aliens.”

Jean gave him an incredulous look. “What the fuck are you doing here, then?” Like Jean needed a kid who couldn’t handle the real thing. It was bad enough that Eren couldn’t even look at the photos from the case files without getting all twitchy, but this? “Did Smith know?”

“Nobody knows.” Eren said weakly, tipping his head back against the headboard. 

“Fuck, Eren, this is not helpful.” Jean said. Yeah, it was understandable that the kid was scared of them, but if he was scared enough to tell _Jean_ , of all people, something he hadn’t told anyone else, well. He was probably shitting bricks over it. Eren made an irritable little noise.

“I’m not gonna be a fucking…liability.” He muttered indignantly. “I’m just nervous, is all.”

Jean sighed. “Look, if it comes down to it and we have to take fuckin’, I don’t know, evasive action against it, don’t you dare run off and leave me on my own.”

Eren snorted. “I’m not going to. That’ll cost me my job.”

_And my life, maybe_ , Jean thought, but dismissed it. The alien wasn’t a probable threat. If it was, they’d send out a lot more than one disgraced agent and a rookie. “Look, I understand why you’re afraid of them but-”

“No you don’t.” Eren said abruptly, and edge that Jean hadn’t heard before creeping into his voice. “Don’t pretend you understand like everyone else. You’re not like them, so don’t.”

Jean shut his mouth, recognising a sensitive subject when it appeared. “Okay.” He said lightly, mind sticking on how Eren apparently thought he wasn’t like _them_ , whoever they were. Maybe there was hope in this partnership after all. “They’re not that scary, for the record.” He added, hoping to ease Eren’s nerves. “I’ve seen two, dead, and they looked pretty pathetic. Nothing like the movies.” He said, with a laugh. Eren laughed half-heartedly and bumped his shoulder against Jean’s.

“You’re talking bull, but thanks.” He said quietly.

It wasn’t until later, when they were laying in bed (a chaste distance away from each other, Jean might add) that he realised Eren hadn’t asked about it when he’d mentioned his failed field mission earlier. He shook his head, staring up at the ceiling. He could only hope the kid caught on as fast with the rest of the bullshit they’d be dealing with over the next couple of days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i feel like this is a long update....who cares....it was the season finale of game of thrones tonight and i'm running on a snow skeleton battle high.....
> 
> hope u enjoy!! pls point out if there's any mistakes?? ok


	5. Chapter 5

Predictably, Jean woke up curled around Eren the next morning, insanely hot under the duvet, his fingers tracing along the lean lines of Eren’s stomach before he came to realise just _who_ he was lying against.

Jean near leapt out of bed at that, and took a cool shower to rinse the memory from his mind. He glared at himself in the steamed up mirror as he towelled himself dry and told himself that at least Eren hadn’t woken up before him. That could’ve been a disaster on a national scale. Jean strongly objected to the amount of mocking that would entail, especially this early in the morning.

Because he was feeling charitable, and because he didn’t want to sit around watching a snoring Eren, he pulled his clothes on and went out in search of coffee.

Within twenty minutes Jean had lost all hope in humanity, and returned to the room empty handed. Eren was awake when he came in, sitting up in bed and blinking blearily at nothing, his hair sticking up all over the place.

“Where’d you go?” He asked groggily as Jean came to sit on the end of the bed. 

“Out to get coffee.” Jean muttered. Eren chuckled sleepily then trailed off into a yawn. “Can you believe there’s no Starbucks in this backwater town?” He huffed, frustrated.

“No shit, Sherlock.” Eren muttered, before dragging himself out of bed and into the bathroom. “What’d you expect? You’re not gonna meet a Starbucks ‘till we’re back in Topeka, man.” There was the sound of a running tap, and of Eren brushing his teeth. Jean groaned. He needed his caffeine fix badly.

“I _need_ a coffee.” He grumbled. “I have to be caffeinated for today.”

There was the sound of Eren spitting in the sink, and he poked his head around the door to grin at Jean. There was toothpaste on his chin. “You don’t sleep so good, do you?” 

“That’s an understatement.” Jean muttered, dragging his hand over his face. His eyelids felt like sandpaper. 

“Well I woke up at four and you were all comfortably spooned into me,” Eren said, back in the bathroom. “So don’t complain too much.”

Jean felt himself flush hotly and glared at the floor. “I wasn’t _spooning_ you.” He shot back. “It’s a small bed it was inevitable we were gonna end up next to each other.”

Eren came out of the bathroom, hair looking a lot less wild now, with a cheerful grin on his face. “It’s not that small.” He pointed out and grinned wider at Jean’s obvious frustration. 

“What the fuck ever, let’s suit up and go.” Jean said tersely, rising from the bed to cross over to his suitcase to pull his damned suit out. He felt hot even just _looking_ at it. “I’ve been dreading this since we left.” He muttered. He looked over to Eren, who was regarding his own, rather creased suit, with distaste.

“At least we look good, right?” He asked unconvincingly. Jean made a noncommittal noise.

“You got your holster?” He asked, shrugging into his shirt and beginning to button it up. Eren looked up from where he was buttoning his trousers and gave him an incredulous look.

“Yes, I’ve got my holster.” He laughed and shook his head, pulled his t-shirt off and dropped it crumpled into his case. “That’s a stupid question.”

“Alright.” Jean said, casting around for his suit jacket. “Just making sure.”

Jean finished dressing and ducked into the bathroom to try and sort his hair into something a little less college frat boy and more professional secret agent. After five minutes he gave up and emerged into the hotel room to the sight of Eren struggling with his holster, tie loose around his neck.

“What, you can’t do a tie?” Jean said teasingly, crossing over to him and tugging it into place under his collar. Quickly, he tied a knot in it before smoothing it against Eren’s chest. “There.”

Eren was giving him a strange look, fingers stilled on the buckle of his holster. Jean abruptly realised how close they were, close enough to smell the hotel shampoo in Eren’s hair. He cleared his throat and stepped back a little.

“I can do a tie.” Eren said scathingly, his green eyes very big in his face. “I’m stuck on the fuckin’-” He broke off and sighed irritably, dropping his hands from his holster in defeat.

“You’ve got it all twisted at the back.” Jean pointed out. “Turn around.” Eren complied, and Jean slid his fingers under the straps to straighten it out. “Okay turn again.” He tightened the straps a little, hands lingering on Eren’s side before he cleared his throat again and nodded. “You’re good.”

“Thanks.” Eren said without looking at him, just bent over to retrieve a hand gun from his case to slide into the leather. “Whoa, lopsided.” 

Jean grinned and reached past him for his own gun, feeling the familiar weight as he holstered it. “It takes some getting used to.” The holster was a comforting weight against his side, the leather straps across his shoulder blades restricting enough just to remind him that it was there. “Now, jacket.” He said, and watched as Eren shrugged into his jacket, pulling it straight, hand going to his gun once more before dropping to his side. 

“Well, we look the part.” Eren said into the silence, the corner of his mouth tugging up. Jean smiled too, they probably looked ridiculous, decked out in these black suits in the heat of the day. He didn’t even want to think about how hot they’d be by afternoon.

“Yeah, yeah, come on.” He pocketed his mobile as well as his wallet, which held his FBI credentials, and packed his clothes away before hefting his suitcase. Eren glanced around the room one last time before they left, shutting the door behind them.

They dropped the key off at the front desk, the woman who was there before giving them a lot more attention now they were all dressed up. Jean practically had to drag Eren away.

They stopped at a shitty diner just before they left town, the plastic booths and aroma of coffee like some sort of personal heaven for Jean. Eren shovelled down pancakes and watched Jean heap sugar into his coffee with a look of disgust.

“God.” He said through a mouthful of pancake. “You have a sweet tooth.”

“I just like my coffee with a lot of sugar.” Jean said defensively, taking a sip and scalding his tongue.

“That’s kinda cute.” Eren announced, leaning back in his seat with a smirk. “You ate all the m&ms in my trail mix.”

“Everybody eats all the m&ms. You’re an anomaly.” Jean grumbled. Eren was still smirking at him. “Shut up and eat your pancakes so we can get moving.”

It was mid-morning by the time they headed to Lakin, Jean leaving the last vestiges of civilisation behind them as they drove out of Garden City. Eren was trying out the radio, but there was so much static that Jean told him to knock it off and quit messing around.

“Plug my phone in if you’re that desperate.” He muttered. Eren snorted.

“No thanks, you probably listen to fucking Mumford and Sons, or something.” He dug around in his jacket pocket for his own phone, which he plugged in and began scrolling through. Jean was mildly offended. Did he look like the sort of guy who listens to Mumford and Sons?

It was getting stuffy in the car, even with the windows rolled down, and Jean was grateful that Lakin was only about a forty minute drive from Garden City. He flipped down the sun visor and started as music suddenly blared from the speakers of the car. Eren mumbled an apology and turned it down a little.

“You like the Red Hot Chili Peppers?” Jean asked in amazement as he recognised the song playing. Eren shot him a curious look.

“Yeah, of course.” He smiled. “Why, do you?”

“Duh.” Jean said with a grin. “Best album?”

Eren grinned and narrowed his eyes. “Blood Sugar Sex Magik.”

Jean nodded, still smiling. “Yes, good. You’ve passed the test.”

“By The Way is a close second, though.” Eren said, leaning back into his seat and propping his feet up on the dash. Jean snorted.

“Californication, man.”

Eren shook his head and smiled. A friendly silence descended on the car as they listened to the music, watching the fields blur by. Jean was seriously considering withdrawing his ‘annoying ass’ opinion of Eren, before he piped up with, “You still look like a Mumford and Sons fan, though.”

Jean mentally revoked his previous change of heart. Eren was an asshole.

\------------

They pulled up on the side of the road a few miles out of Lakin, and trekked a few metres into an empty field. Jean kicked at the scrubby ground, squinting around for anything that Eren could aim at.

“One minute.” He said, and went back to the car for their discarded paper coffee cups, and set them up on the fence. Eren looked almost offended.

“I’m gonna be able to hit those, man.” He said, gesturing loosely with his gun in the direction of the cups. “Try and make it a little harder.”

“Why’re you so sure you’re gonna hit them from here?” Jean asked him, retreating to his side and shading his eyes from the sun to see the paper cups. “It’s far.”

“And I told you,” Eren said, “I’m good.” There was so trace of smugness about it, he was saying it in the same way you’d comment on the weather. It was sunny. Eren was good with a gun. 

“Well, hit them and I’ll reconsider.” He said, and walked a little distance away to watch. He couldn’t deny that Eren looked good in his black suit, all lean lines and dark skin. He looked even better with a gun in his hand, holding it at arms length, casual, barely checking, before firing off two shots in quick succession.

“I got them.” He said, without looking. He smirked at Jean’s disbelieving expression and held his hands up in defeat, his gun dangling between his fingers. “I told you, man.”

“You’ve never used a gun before!” Jean spluttered, stalking over to where the paper cups had dropped to the ground. He gaped. Each one had a hole straight through the middle. He turned around to see Eren laughing. “You’re fucking with me, right?” He called back incredulously. Eren shook his head, grinning.

“Do it again.” Jean said heatedly, marching back up to him. “I don’t believe you.”

“I’ve never shot a gun. Scouts honour.” Eren said, biting back another laugh and drawing a cross over his heart. “Apart from at the entrance test, and everyone sat around being quiet with the _exact_ same expression you had, after.” He choked out another laugh and against all odds, Jean found himself smiling too. Stupidly, wildly, he was smiling and laughing with this fucking _kid_ in the middle of nowhere. A kid who probably handled a gun better than him.

“Fuck, alright, try and hit the middle of that rock after me.” Jean said with a grin, shrugging off his jacket and drawing his gun. He aimed at a large-ish boulder a few metres away, lining it up, aware of how closely Eren was watching him and how he was taking longer than Eren had just now. He fired, leaning back into the recoil, and knew as soon as he did so that it off-centre. “God fucking dammit.” He muttered. Eren was giving him a smug smirk.

“My turn.” He said, tugging his jacket off and shouldering Jean out of the way. He slipped into a easy stance, feet a shoulder widths apart, practically a textbook position. Jean put his hands on his hips, watched him, how the dark leather straps stood out starkly against his white shirt, tight across his back. His slim hips, the way he handled his gun with ease and confidence. God, Jean needed to sit down. His partner was hotter than he could have ever imagined. Pity about the personality though, Jean thought, eyes roving over Eren’s face, set and focused. He fired, hand jerking back with the recoil, the crack of the bullet loud in the quiet field. Jean jogged over to the rock and made a sound of disgust at the dead-centre mark in it. His own shot was a scar about five inches to the left of Eren’s. He muttered a curse and returned to Eren, who was picking his jacket off the ground and brushing it down.

“You got centre.” He said grudgingly, picking his own jacket up and slinging it over his shoulder. There was no way in hell he was putting it on, not unless he wanted to sweat into a puddle in the dirt. 

“Of course I did.” Eren said confidently, giving Jean another one of his little smirks. Jean glowered and reminded himself all the way back to the car about Eren’s shitty personality.

“So,” Eren said, as Jean turned the keys in the ignition and pulled away from the side of the road. “Didn’t hear a lot of concrit out there, Mr. Experience. I guess I did okay, huh?”

“Shut the fuck up.” Jean muttered, looking in the rear view mirror. “Put your belt on.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is basically just a testament to how hot i am for boys w/ guns + shoulder holsters sorry this fic is so self-indulgent tbh
> 
> as always point out any mistakes and hope u enjoy!!


	6. Chapter 6

Lakin was as dire as Jean had expected it to be. He probably would have complained a little more about the distinct lack of civilisation if Eren hadn’t been sitting all tense and pale in the passenger seat, staring out the window unblinkingly, like he couldn’t miss any of it for a second.

“You okay?” Jean asked, scanning the road for a place to stay. Eren cleared his throat and shot him a wide-eyed glance.

“Yeah, I’m.” He frowned. “I haven’t been back since it all happened, y’know. I can’t remember the place.” He said quietly, his voice sounding a touch scared. “It’s like I’ve never been here.”

Jean grimaced internally. Fuck. Fragile kid in the passenger seat, what should he do?

“I haven’t been back to where I came from for years either.” He offered awkwardly. Eren seemed grateful for the distraction and turned away from the window. “Like, more than sixteen years? We moved when I was younger.” He nodded, getting into the flow of it as Eren inclined his head slightly. “And I’ve never been back, so. I get you. It’s weird, I bet.”

“Yeah.” Eren said quietly. “Weird.” He looked like a completely different person than the guy who’d shot a gun with such ease and confidence in that field. “Where’re you from?” He asked, tipping the side of his face into the headrest and regarding Jean with those big green eyes. Jean swallowed and glanced away, realising they were going at a complete snails pace along the road. He sped up a little, eyes still scanning the side of the road for a motel, or something.

“Alexandria? In Pennsylvania?” Jean said, giving Eren a sidelong look to see his reaction. His face was completely blank, a little puzzled. Jean laughed. “Yeah, like twelve people live there. Lakin is a fuckin’ _city_ compared.”

Eren huffed out a little laugh, and Jean grinned at him, delighted that he looked a little less like he’d seen a ghost.

“There’s a motel over there.” Eren pointed out. Jean grimaced at the sight of the run down little motel, but pulled in anyway. Like they could get picky about where they slept for the night. It’d be lucky if they slept in a bed at all actually, considering the amount of time Jean had planned for them to do surveillance on the crater.

The old guy at the desk was a lot more friendly than the woman in Garden City, at least, but he got chatty when Eren told him he was from Lakin originally, and Jean had to practically drag him away to their room. He’d have done it earlier, but he kinda liked the way Eren’s accent was beginning to creep back into his voice.

“Twin beds.” Jean said happily, dumping his bag on the one furthest from the door. Eren followed behind, still quiet, but managed a little remark about Jean spooning him, again. Which meant that he was almost back to normal, thank god. Jean just didn’t want to think about how weird he’d get going back to his old house. God, what was Smith _thinking?_

Eren was loosening his tie and looked about ready to take a good long nap, if his dreamy gaze at the bed was any indication. Jean snapped his fingers in front of his face, and grinned when he startled and stepped back a little.

“Wake up, we’re driving out to the farm ASAP.” He said brusquely, patting his holstered gun, then his pockets, checking everything was in place. “We’ve already taken long enough as it is.”

Eren grimaced at straightened his tie, shot another longing look at the bed, before following Jean out of the room.

“Besides, you only just woke up.” Jean continued as he lead the way to the car.

Eren shrugged and slid into the passenger seat, making a face at how hot it had gotten within the car in the space of fifteen minutes. “I sleep a lot, sue me.”

“I’m the opposite.” Jean mumbled, checking the rear view mirror before backing out of the space and onto the road. “Alright,” He said, and glanced over to Eren. “Ready?”

“Ready to kick some alien ass.” Eren mumbled, half-assed at best. Jean rolled his eyes and shifted into second.

“Let’s go then.”

\------------

The house was exactly what Jean had been expecting, a squat bungalow of brown wood and slightly peeling green paint on the shutters. There was a large wraparound porch and the slate roof had a few tiles missing here and there. The shutters on the large windows were open, giving them a clear view into the rooms beyond. A bare-footed child was sitting on the porch, feet dangling inches off the ground, seemingly engrossed in a bucket containing god knows what. As Jean drove up the dirt track that lead to the house, the child looked up, startled, before running inside, abandoning the bucket outside. In the distance, a large windmill was turning lazily in the breeze. 

Jean sighed and took in all the empty space around the house, the barn a couple hundred yards away, the fenced in livestock. “Nice place.” He said dully.

Eren made a tiny noise in the back of his throat, and when Jean turned to look at him, he looked pained.

“It’s exactly the same.” He said quietly, staring at the house. “Even the shutters.“ Jean winced.

“Eren.” He said, loud enough to make Eren tear his gaze away from the house. “Can you do this? Or am I gonna have to leave you behind?”

“It’s exactly like I remember it.” Eren said in a small voice, leaning forward slightly, hand fisted in the bottom of his jacket. “It’s like I could just walk in and my mother would be there.”

Jean sighed and unbuckled his seatbelt, leaned over the steering wheel. The kid had come back out and was looking at them curiously. Jean bared his teeth, and the kid ran back inside, giggling.

“Jean, this is really weird.” Eren said. When Jean looked over to him, he was staring at the front of the house blankly, his gaze unfocused. “I haven’t been home in so long.”

“Eren,” Jean said patiently. “Can you do this?” He repeated.

Eren looked lost, his gaze darting between the house and Jean’s face. “Jean, I-” He looked so disconcertingly _vulnerable_ and scared and upset, and Jean didn’t know what to do, _fuck_. He could barely deal with his own emotional problems, let alone someone else’s. 

“There’s other people living in my _house_.” Eren muttered, distressed. 

Unthinkingly, Jean grabbed hold of Eren’s wrist and pulled him closer, putting a steady hand between his shoulder blades as Eren froze, then leaned into him. His hand was right over the middle of Eren’s holster, and he smoothed his palm over it. Eren’s breaths were coming short and fast, and Jean patted his back, trying for soothing but probably just coming off awkward.

“It’s not your home anymore.” He muttered, eyes on the front door of the house, waiting for someone to come out and see them like this. Eren exhaled shakily against his shoulder, making a noise of disagreement. Jean let go out his wrist and wrapped his arm securely around his shoulders. It was awkward, with Eren leaning over the gear stick and Jean shifted until they were comfortable. “ _It’s not_.” He said firmly. God, he was a fucking _kid_. A kid who missed his home and missed his mother and was desperate enough for comfort that he let himself be pulled into an embrace with a guy he didn’t even _like_. Jean wondered how many people had even addressed what had happened. Some things needed talking about, needed to be let out or else they turned to poison and rotted inside of you. “We can talk about it later.” He said. “But right now we have a job to do, and you need to be calm for it.”

There was a long period of silence. “I _am_ calm.” Eren eventually mumbled against his suit. Jean almost laughed with relief. If Eren was being pedantic, he was half-way back to being normal. 

“Yes you fucking are.” He said, and let go out him, shuffling back a little in the drivers seat at the absolute _weirdness_ of the situation. Eren had felt very thin and warm in his arms. Jean cracked his knuckles, trying to dispel the phantom warmth on his hands, of Eren’s back through his thin shirt.

Eren gave him a scowl and wiped his eyes with the heels of his hands. They looked suspiciously damp, but his expression was set as he reached for the handle and let out a long, steadying breath.

“This isn’t even my house.” He said with conviction, and opened the car door. Jean scrambled with his, and met him at the front of the car. Eren shrugged his suit jacket on, ran a slightly shaky hand through his hair. Jean nodded at him.

“Okay, panic over.” He said, and lead the way to the front door. Eren grumbled something behind him, which Jean had the good grace to ignore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry this cut off a little awkwardly but otherwise it would've ended up super long...sorry about that...
> 
> but anyway!! hope u enjoy this chapter comments are always appreciated?? thanks for reading!!


	7. Chapter 7

Jean knocked on the door, and waited until another grubby barefooted child answered it, staring up at him solemnly. Jean smiled awkwardly and resisted crouching down to talk to the kid. “Hello, are you parents home? We need to speak with them.”

“Are you here about our new swimming pool?” The kid asked seriously. Jean felt his smile falter, and glanced over to Eren, who was staring blankly past him into the house. Okay, so Eren was no use.

“Uh, no.” Jean said. “Can you run along and get an adult, please?”

The child stared at them both a moment longer, then very deliberately shut the door in their faces. Jean was left staring at the brass doorknocker in amazement. Fucking kids.

“Can’t we just go in?” Eren asked dully. Jean shot him a calculating look. 

“You sure you’re alright?” He asked. Eren glared at him, jaw clenched tight. 

“Stop worrying about me, I’m fine.” He said, just as the door swung open again. Eren shut his mouth and tried to look professional and not like he’d been giving his partner a death glare just 0.5 of a second earlier.

“You must be those men in black fellas, right?” The man standing in the doorway was short and sinewy, his face a weathered mass of wrinkles. He grinned up at the two of them, and Jean noticed the majority of his teeth were missing. He smiled stiffly.

“Actually, that film has some glaringly obvious errors-”

Eren cut him off. “Hello, yes we are. You must be Mr. Miller.” He shot Jean a thinly veiled look of condescension and inclined his head slightly. Jean glowered at him.

“Sir, we have some questions to ask you about the ship.” Jean said, giving up on dispelling the ’men in black’ stereotype. If Miler asked which was Will Smith and which was Tommy Lee Jones, Jean was going to leave, alien or not. It wouldn’t be the first time, either. “I’m Agent Jean Kirschtein, and this is my partner Agent Eren Jaeger.” 

Miller nodded slowly and stepped back from the door. “Come in, boys.” He said good naturedly. “Come through to the kitchen, my daughter’s just put the kettle on.” 

“Sorry about the kids,” Miller said as they trooped through the door past him. “They think I’m gonna fill up the crater with water. Think they’re gonna get a swimming pool.” He chuckled, and Jean laughed along with him. Fucking kids, he’d never understand them.

Eren lead the way, walking surely through the house, even ducking to avoid a particularly low beam that Jean firmly smacked his head on. Miller seemed to note this and gave him a good-natured smile from across the table once they were all seated.

“You been here before, son?” He asked. His daughter, a broad woman dressed entirely in blue denim, was giving Eren a curious look. Eren, who had been staring around the kitchen, wide eyed, cleared his throat.

“No, sir.” He swallowed and glanced over at Jean. “I used to live here. It’s still exactly how I remember it.” He cleared his throat again and stared into his mug of tea, expression guarded.

“Oh, you can’t be the son of the lady-” The daughter began, but Jean widened his eyes at her and shook his head sharply. She looked surprised, but let off. Eren didn’t look up at all.

“Yeah.” Miller said seriously, seemingly unaware of his daughter having spoken. “The house was very good when we moved in. Painted a couple of rooms, got rid of some stuff,” Eren flinched at that. Jean pressed his knee against Eren’s and willed him to stay calm. “But apart from that, the house is almost exactly as it was when the last owner died.” He smiled gently at Eren, who looked cornered. “When exactly did you live here, boy?”

Eren opened his mouth to speak, eyes very wide, before Jean cut in with a, “So, sir, could you tell us more about the crash that happened a week ago, please?”

The man’s attention snapped quickly to Jean, and he began relaying information slowly, confusingly, as Jean tried to note it down in a way that made any sense. The daughter was still looking shrewdly at Eren, but Jean supposed he couldn’t do anything about that. Eren’s knee was still pressed against his. Jean wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or a bad one.

“We thought it was just kids messing around in the fields, you know,” Miller said. Jean nodded absently, eyes on his notes. “Happens all the time. Took my eldest out with me when I saw flames, big, strange flames, they were. When I saw those, I sent Jonah - that’s my eldest - back to get some water,” Jean remembered Hanji laughing at that, and underlined it viciously to stop from laughing as well. “We couldn’t get closer than about five hundred feet, the flames were so hot. So we rang the fire station, over in Garden, which took a while to get here. They brought the police, too.”

“Could they extinguish the flames?” Jean asked shortly.

“No, we had to let it burn out. Put some sand over it. Took about a day. When it burnt out and the police saw that little ship, they all got very worried.”

“I don’t doubt it.” Jean muttered. “Look, is there anything you can tell me that you haven’t told the police, anything strange that has happened _since_ the fire? Perhaps since our men came to retrieve the craft?” The old man was basically reiterating exactly what was in the case files. Jean knew about the flames and the emergency services. He knew more than Miller, truthfully. Everything was in the report. What Jean wanted to know, was what happened _after_ the police left and the FBI left and this farm went back to normal.

The man seemed to be thinking deeply. His daughter, who had been scrubbing something in the kitchen sink, was giving them both a nervous look.

“Can you tell us anything?” Jean asked. The woman startled and dropped a metal spoon, which clanged loudly into the sink.

“Well, it’s just,” She shot another glance at Eren before turning fully to address him. “Are you sure you’ve never been back here? You got a younger brother who still lives in Lakin?”

Eren gave her a blank look. “I don’t have any brothers, and I haven’t been back since the last ship crashed here.” His hands tightened around his mug and Jean bumped his knee under the table warningly. “Why?”

The woman looked flustered and deeply confused. “Well, if you don’t mind me saying, you’ve got the most unusual eyes for your skin I’ve ever seen.” She looked a bit red. Eren just looked puzzled. “And I’ve never seen anyone like it, only.” She stopped. “This sounds stupid.”

“No, go on.” Jean said, interested to hear where she was going with this. Eren was staring at her, his brows slightly furrowed. For once, it seemed like he’d shaken off the influence of his old childhood house. He looked like a real, honest-to-god agent. Jean felt an odd bubble of pride inflate in his chest.

“Well, it’s just, I saw a little boy with the exact same colouring as you.” She said in a rush, looking deeply embarrassed. “Out by the old barn.” She shot a glance at her father, who was watching her interestedly.

“Did he say anything?” Jean asked, watching Eren for his reaction. He was very still, and expression of intense confusion on his face. As if sensing Jean’s eyes on him, he half-turned to raise his eyebrows. _What the fuck?_ Jean tilted his head. _I don’t know._

“I thought he was a kid from town, or something. Someone who was visiting, maybe.” She shot a nervous glance Eren’s way. “So I called out, something like ‘where’s your parents’, or something. He didn’t reply, just ran off into the barn and when I looked he wasn’t there. Guessed he’d run home.” She shrugged and spread her hands. “I’ve seen him a coupla times since. Always when I’m alone. Feeding the pigs, milking the cows. Once, when I went out to look at the crater-” She broke off and looked a bit embarrassed. “Just curious, you know. But he was out there, sitting on the edge, staring down at the ship in it. So I told him to get away, said it wasn’t safe. He just stared at me with those big green eyes. I left.” She said, suddenly very serious. “There was something about him that set my teeth on edge.”

Jean stared down at his notepad, a blurring mass of scribbles before him, his handwriting barely legible because of how fast he’d taken down the notes. There was a weird prickling sensation on the back of his neck, like he was being watched. The whole story was so _eerie_. Jean thought of this strange, silent child with Eren’s eyes and shuddered a little. God, he hated kids.

“Sorry but,” Jean looked over at Eren as he spoke abruptly. He was reaching into his pocket, and Jean watched with curiosity as he extracted his wallet and opened it, pulling out a rather tattered photograph. He held it out to the woman - Jean realised he didn’t know her name - and continued seriously. “Did the child look like this?” He pointed to the photo.

The daughter’s eyes flicked over the photo, he face oddly still, before her eyes widened and she nodded jerkily. “Yes, that’s him alright.” She took a step back from Eren. “Spitting image, right down to the clothes.”

All the blood drained out of Eren’s face. Jean had never seen him so pale, not in the briefing, not driving into Lakin, not seeing his childhood house again for the first time in fifteen years. Robotically, he let his hand drop to the table, releasing the photo and letting it flutter to the tabletop. Jean snatched it up and shot a glance Eren’s way before holding it up to look.

It was a family photo; a mother and a father, two children, one boy, one girl. The mother was pretty in a tired way, her long dark hair swept into a loose ponytail over her shoulder. The father stood rigidly to her side, looking into the camera through thin, wire-rimmed glasses. The little girl was as solemn as the father, staring past a screen of straight black hair. It was the boy though, who Jean’s eye was drawn to. He was looking at the camera, face set in a very familiar scowl.

Jean looked up at Eren, back to the picture. “This is you?” He asked, gesturing with the photo. Eren nodded silently, his eyes very dark in his bloodless face. “You saw this boy?” Jean asked the woman brusquely. She nodded too.

“Shit.” Jean muttered, staring down at the picture of Eren in his hand. “Holy fucking shit, I’ve gotta call Hanji.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the story's finally picking up?? took me long enough smh
> 
> uh so this fic will probs be taking a short hiatus (like 2 weeks or so) because my bf is coming to stay and i probs won't have time to update?? but it's only a maybe i'm not sure. u can find me on tumblr at girlshinji if you want to bc i'll probs post if i'm gonna be able to update on there so. sorry about that??


	8. Chapter 8

The first thing Eren did when they walked outside was to stalk over to a crumbling brick wall and punch it. Jean watched him, worried, holding his phone up to try and get _any_ signal.

“Eren, stop that.” He said. Eren ignored him and swung again, letting out a grunt of frustration and pain as his fist connected. “ _Eren_.” Jean said, pocketing his phone and stepping over to where Eren was taking his anger out on the bricks. “That’s not going to help anything. Calm down.”

“Fuck you.” Eren spat, hitting the wall until his knuckles were bloody and he was breathing heavily. “Goddamn fucking _thing_ is using my _face_ , Jean.” He hissed. “Don’t tell me to calm down.” Each word was punctuated by another swing at the brick. 

“Don’t. Make. A scene.” Jean hissed, grabbing Eren by the collar and yanking him backwards. Eren struggled, lashing out, but Jean was bigger and stronger. Eren was just a whip-thin kid with a bad attitude and a short temper. “Look at your fucking hands.” Jean said hopelessly, as Eren clawed at Jean’s hand on his collar.

“Fuck off.” Eren said, going limp and glaring off in the other direction. Jean shook him.

“This is not fucking helpful, okay?” He said in a low voice. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the two kids assembled on the porch, watching them with wide eyes. He released Eren, who took a couple of steps away from Jean, shoulders hunched and eyes wild. “Act like a fucking professional.” He said. Eren glared.

“Let me see your hands.” Jean said, quiet now, as if he was trying to approach a caged animal. Eren clenched his fists and shook his head.

“Don’t touch me.” He snapped.

“Get a fucking grip.” Jean shot back, fumbling his phone out his pocket again. “I’m just as freaked out as you, okay?”

“Are you, Jean?” Eren said sarcastically. “Really? You’re just as freaked out as me?” He laughed wildly and brought his tattered hands to his face. “Did you have to come back to the place you mother _died in,_ Jean? Is there a fucking alien running around using your face?” At Jean’s silence, he laughed bitterly. “Yeah, I didn’t fucking think so.” Jean realised with horror that Eren was blinking back tears. Fuck no, Jean was too emotionally stunted for this shit. 

“Eren.” He said, placating. “I’m gonna contact Hanji, get some communication going, see what’s happening in Virgina. She’ll know what to do.” 

“Oh god.” Eren said, slumping down against the wall. “Is this really happening?” He looked up at Jean with wide eyes. “Am I gonna have to kill something that looks like me?”

There was a brief period of silence, in which Jean and Eren stared at each other with twin expressions of horror. Jean broke it, half-turning and lifting his phone to ear. “I’m gonna call Hanji.” He said firmly, almost desperately. “We’ll sort this out.”

The phone rang for a long time, and Jean hoped it was because Hanji had fallen asleep rather than left the lab. He watched Eren carefully out of the corner of his eye as it rang. He seemed to have calmed down, and was sitting against the wall with his knees drawn up, cradling his hurt hands to his chest. He looked very small. Jean was reminded of how he had felt when he’d pulled Eren to his chest, skinny and fragile. Jean knew very well that Eren wasn’t fragile, at least physically, but he worried for him. Despite his terrible personality and how irritating he could be, he was still Jean’s partner and Jean didn’t like to see him like that. All curled in on himself and scared.

Lost in thought, Jean jumped when Hanji finally picked up the phone with a slightly strung-out sounding, “Yes, hello, what?”

“Hanji, it’s Jean.” He said, turning fully towards Eren as he spoke. Eren had looked up at his voice, and when their eyes met he offered him a scowl and ducked his head again. Jean rolled his eyes.

“Oh! Jean Kirschtein!” Hanji sounded positively _ecstatic_ to hear from him. “How goes it? Moblit brought the ship in yesterday it’s _fascinating_.”

“Is it…empty?” He ventured, closing his eyes and hoping it hadn’t been. If the alien had been recovered in the wreckage of the ship, it meant that all he and Eren would have to do is inspect the crash site a little, then go home and forget all about eerie silent children. 

Hanji made a pleased noise. “Yes! Completely wrecked but no evidence of any living tissue, or once-living,” She amended. “So you’re still on for finding it!” 

Jean sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. It was getting hot now, the sun high in the sky and beating down on them in their black suits and tight collars. What he wouldn’t give for a t-shirt and a pair of shorts right now. “Okay, Hanji, if that’s the case, we have a problem.”

Hanji made an interested sound, and there was a clattering sound on her end that suggested her bench being cleared of various crap. “Wait, let me find a pen.”

“There’s one in your hair.” Jean suggested. Eren shot him a curious look and he shrugged. After being around Hanji for an extended amount of time, some things were practically routine. When Hanji lost things, they usually ended up in her mass of hair.

“Oh yes, you’re quite right.” Hanji said affably. “Okay, shoot.”

“We have a bit of a _situation_ here.” Jean said hesitantly. Hanji made an encouraging noise. 

“Give me the short version.” She said.

“Okay, basically, there’s been a kid seen around the farm - mostly near the crater - by the man’s daughter. She said she only sees him when she’s alone.” Jean paused, unsure of how to word the next part. “The thing is though, he looks exactly like Eren did as a child. And he doesn’t speak.”

There was a long period of silence from Hanji. Eventually, she breathed, “Now _that’s_ something else.”

“Yeah.” Jean said. “It threw us off pretty bad.” He glanced down at Eren, who was flexing his fingers carefully. He looked pained. Jean hoped he hadn’t broken anything. _That_ would be a fucking setback.

Hanji made a surprised noise. “You think it can shapeshift?”

Jean huffed out a little laugh. “Well, when you put it like that.”

“It sounds plausible.” Hanji muttered. “But why Eren as a child? And why _Eren_? This particular alien has never met him before, and it sure as hell isn’t the one from last time, because I’m currently looking at it’s brain suspended in CSF.”

Jean made a non-committal noise. “I have no idea.”

“Hive mind?” Hanji suggested.

“Maybe.” Jean said, kicking at a patch of scrubby dirt. “That’d make sense. But only if the previous one _saw_ Eren. One minute.” He pressed the phone against his chest and crossed over to where Eren was sitting on the ground. He crouched next to him and addressed him. “Eren, you ever seen an alien before? Think hard.”

Eren gave him a guarded look from behind his hair. “So it’s real then? It’s an alien?”

Jean shifted and leant back against the wall. “Maybe. Probably. We’re trying to work out how it’s using your anatomy from when you were a kid.”

“I’ve never seen one.” Eren said assuredly. “But that doesn’t mean one has never seen me.” He added after a moment of silence. Jean stared at him then raised the phone to his ear.

“What’s the possibility they’ve been targeting this place for a while?” He asked. Hanji made an interested noise. 

“I don’t know why they _would_ ,” she said. “They’d be more likely to target a big city.”

“Not necessarily.” Jean said, easing back into a sitting position as his calves began to hurt. “Isolated place, it’s perfect.”

Hanji hummed. “You’re right. So, what, you think they’ve been targeting this farm since fifteen years ago?”

“I don’t about _targeting_ ,” Jean said uncomfortably. “That sounds like it’s an invasion. But maybe for recon? They might be sending out scouts to see what the place is like. The last one ended badly and the scout didn’t survive, but somehow they managed to see Eren and copy him?” Eren made an uncomfortable noise next to him, and Jean pressed his shoulder to Eren’s, trying to exude calm.

“That’s interesting.” Hanji muttered, sounding focused and serious. “That’s an incredibly interesting theory. It explains why the ship crashed in the exact same place as last time.” She hummed thoughtfully. “What are you gonna do about the alien?”

“Find it?” Jean said questioningly. “Kill it if we have to?”

“Do you think Eren’ll be able to deal with killing a clone of himself?” Hanji’s tone was shrewd. “How’s he holding up with being back home?”

Jean snuck a glance Eren’s way. Eren widened his eyes and shook his head, obviously having heard the question. Jean cleared his throat. “He’s dealing okay. Not too sure how he’s gonna be with the other part though.”

“Well, listen, if you want backup sent down…” Hanji trailed off.

“No, I think we’re fine.” Jean said quickly. If backup had to be sent, they’d both basically failed. Which wasn’t good for Eren, since it was his first mission and no doubt Smith was waiting for him to prove himself. It certainly wasn’t good for Jean either, if he was trying to make up for the disaster that was his last field mission. “We can handle it.”

“Call me if you can’t.” Hanji said seriously, then brightened. “And call me if you get any more info! This is so exciting, a hive mind! I have to tell Levi.”

“If he has anything helpful to add tell me.” Jean said. 

“No doubt it’ll be something crude.” She said, and laughed. Jean agreed and they hung up, Hanji promising to try and dig up some information for him. 

“So what now.” Eren said dully, forearms balanced on his knees, bloody hands dangling in front of him. Jean snorted.

“I don’t have a fucking clue.” He sighed, and pocketed his phone. “Ask some more questions? Go out and look at the crater?” He glanced across at Eren’s hands. “Get your hands sorted out?”

Eren clenched and unclenched his hands. “My hands can wait.”

Jean sighed heavily. “Alright, fine. We’re gonna go inspect the crater, poke around in the barn, all that.” He stood and offered Eren a hand up, which he didn’t take, just scrambled to his feet and brushed off his suit. Jean clenched his hand into a fist. “Eren, don’t act like an asshole.”

“Fuck you.” Eren muttered, squinting as he gazed into the distance.

Jean huffed angrily and turned on his heel to walk back to the house, Eren following behind him.

Miller wasn’t anywhere to be found, but his daughter was sitting at the scrubbed wooden table in the kitchen, a steaming mug of tea in her hands. Jean knocked lightly on the doorframe and tried to muster up a smile when she turned her attention on him.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name earlier.” He said, still lingering in the doorway. Behind him, Eren was staring around the living room, mouth tight. 

“Mary.” She said. “It’s Mary.” She paused, looking hesitant. “Can I ask you about the little boy, or is it classified?”

Jean leant against the doorframe and spread his hands. “I’m not sure.” He said truthfully. “Probably won’t hurt, after all, you’re the one living here with it.” He cleared his throat and glanced behind him for Eren, just to check he wasn’t getting into trouble. He was standing over by the fireplace, one hand on the mantel, looking at a couple of family photographs framed there. Jean left him to it, and turned back to Mary. “It’s a shape shifter, probably. Somehow it copied Eren’s DNA from when he was a child and is using it as a disguise. It’d probably be a good one, too, if Eren hadn’t come here.” He added thoughtfully. Mary nodded slowly.

“You’re gonna take him away?”

“We’re gonna try.” Jean said, with what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “We’re just about to go take a look at the crater, actually. And the barn, if that’s alright.”

She waved a hand and nodded. “Take your time. Dad’s out with the sheep, you’ll see him on your way out.” She curled her fingers more tightly around her mug, gaze on the table. “Agent?”

Jean paused, half-turned away from the kitchen. Eren was standing by the front door, looking sulky and expectant. “Yeah?”

Mary smiled at him, then her gaze shifted past his shoulder a little. “If your partner needs his hands bandaged up, send him in on your way back.”

Jean ducked his head and grimaced. “Sure.” He said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> throws hands in the air and walks away
> 
> i don't know ?? filler chapter?? also sorry for the week delay on this update i'm super busy!! hope this is ok and pls point out any mistakes!!


	9. Chapter 9

The crater was a jagged scar in the dry cracked ground, deeper than it was wide, and blackened from the flames. All the ground around it was seared black, plants burnt to ashy twigs. Their feet kicked up clouds of ash as they approached the edge, Eren scowling and uncommunicative, Jean gaping down into the hole.

“It’s fucking huge.” He breathed. “How big was it before?” He asked, without thinking. Eren froze up and turned away from the crater, stepping quickly away from the edge.

“I don’t fucking know.” He called back over his shoulder. “We should check out the barn.”

Jean gave the crater one last look over, squinting into its depths in case he could spot where the ship had been removed, before following Eren to the barn.

It was a dilapidated, broken thing. Peeling red paint, the roof collapsing in. One door hung loose on its hinges, the other stuck so firmly in the frame that no amount of shoving could shift it. 

“This is a fucking dump.” Eren muttered bitterly as they surveyed the inside, beams of light coming through the holes in the roof and turning the floating dust motes gold. The air was warm, stuffy, and smelt like rotting grass and decay. 

“Creepy though.” Jean murmured, eyes flicking over the piles of rusty farm tools, the broken boards and bushes of weeds. “Was it always like this?” He asked, turning to Eren, who was staring around him with a scowl, left hand cradled against his chest.

“No, of course not.” He answered, venturing deeper into the barn, kicking rusted paint cans out of the way to crouch down and peer into a metal cabinet. 

The place was a real dump, Jean had to admit. All over the barn were little nooks and crannies created by rotted wood fallen from the roof and various farm equipment left to rust. It had an eerie feel, and Jean had the distinct impression that he was being watched. He turned, but all that was behind him was a ladder with a few rungs missing, leading up to the hayloft.

“Hey, Eren,” He called. Eren, who was over on the other side of the barn, gingerly lifting broken wood out of the way, looked over. “I’m gonna try and go up.” He pointed up towards the hayloft.

Eren shook his head, “No you’re not,” and went back to shifting planks. Jean stared at him in disbelief.

“Why not?”

Eren popped his head up again. Jean didn’t have great eyesight over distances, but he guessed Eren’s expression was one of exasperation. “Because it’s probably rotted through. You’ll put one foot up there and come crashing down. Probably end up impaling yourself, too.” He ducked down again, and Jean heard a clatter as he shifted something metal. “Not that I wouldn’t mind,” he continued conversationally. “But it’d probably ruin this mission, so.”

Jean stared at the back of Eren’s head in disbelief. God, to think he’d been feeling sorry for the kid. “You’re full of shit.” He shot back, before stepping a few paces away from the ladder and tipping his head back to look at the loft. He got a bad vibe from it, the shadowy space up by the roof, and despite the heat of the day he felt a little shiver go through him.

“Why d’you wanna go up there so bad?” Eren asked, appearing at his side out of nowhere. Jean jumped, then glared.

“Don’t sneak up on people like that.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Eren mumbled dismissively, eyes turned up to the loft as well. “Kinda creepy up there.”

“Exactly!” Jean exclaimed. Eren stared at him like he was crazy. “First rule of aliens: if it’s creepy, it’s suspicious.”

Eren rolled his eyes and nodded. “Of course it is.”

“I think we should do a stakeout.” Jean murmured, glancing down at Eren. “What d’you think?”

“I’m not staying here tonight.” Eren said decisively, crossing his arms. “I’m not staying here a minute longer than I have to.”

“Yeah, but what’s the chance that the alien’s gonna come out in broad daylight with us crashing around in here?”

“I don’t know, Jean.” Eren muttered, beginning to pick his way through the stuff on the floor to get out. “But it sure as hell isn’t going to turn up if it’s really up in the hayloft, because it just heard everything you’re planning to do.” He disappeared out of the door, and Jean stared after him, dumbfounded, before beating a hasty exit. The unsettling feeling of being watched followed him long after he left the barn.

Eren was standing by the base of the windmill, digging through his pockets. As Jean approached, he extracted his lighter and cigarettes triumphantly, a grim smile on his face.

“You want?” He offered, holding the open pack towards Jean. He hesitated, then nodded - the distant craving for a cigarette had been tugging at the back of his mind all day. Eren shook one from the packet and placed it between his own lips to light it, before passing it over to Jean.

“Thanks.” He muttered, definitely not thinking about Eren’s lips around the filter as he inhaled.

He squinted off into the distance, thinking, eye catching on the big black scar of the crater. As he stared, the sun beating down unbearably hot on his shoulders, he spoke. “Eren, you should tell me the real reason why you don’t wanna come back here tonight.”

He could feel Eren looking at him, but kept his eyes resolutely on the horizon. It was so hot the air was wavy, distorting the faint sight of houses in the distance. He knew if he looked at Eren, he’d end up taking any bullshit that came out of his mouth. Jean was a sucker for a pretty face and a sad backstory, and found it hard to be his usual blunt self when it came to Eren’s big green eyes.

There was the sound of Eren inhaling, his lips making the sound of a kiss as he took his cigarette away from his mouth. Then he spoke, tone caustic. “I just don’t fancy waiting around out here in the dark for some alien, alright?” He sounded defensive, underneath that layer of venom. Jean remembered him admitting his fear of aliens, and felt a little shitty. 

“Alright.” He conceded, glancing over to Eren, who looked a little surprised. Surprised and exhausted, tiredness set deep into his eyes, the way his mouth turned down at the corners. Jean tried to imagine what it must be like, coming back to this place, filled with the ghosts of childhood memories. 

“Alright?” Eren echoed, sounding unsure, like he’d been expecting Jean to put up more a fight.

“Tomorrow night, though.” Jean said firmly, taking a drag of his cigarette. He really did not want to waste anymore time than he needed on this thing. “One night sleeping in a real bed, then we’re out here in the car, keeping watch.”

Eren gave him a thoughtful look, raising the cigarette to his lips and inhaling before he spoke again. “Deal.” He muttered, smoke escaping from his nose as he talked. 

Jean nodded, and they regarded each other in silence for a moment, the only sounds the creaking of the windmill and the faint sound of crickets. From back at the farm, Jean could hear the low moos of the cows. It was oddly peaceful, out here. He closed his eyes, the sun warming his face as he tipped his head back, raising the cigarette to his lips.

“What now, then?” Eren asked, voice breaking through Jean’s reverie. “Because it’s like,” He checked his watch, “four o’clock.”

Jean shrugged. “I suppose we should visit neighbouring farms, see if they’ve seen the kid as well. Maybe go back, inform the family not to come out to the barn or the crater.” He shrugged again. “I’m not entirely sure how to do about locating the thing, to be honest. Night will be the best time, probably.”

Eren was silent for a moment. “You know, we should just come back here later.” He said grudgingly, screwing up his face like it was physically paining him to admit Jean was right. “I mean, we should. It’s our job.” 

“You sure?” Jean asked. It was almost amusing to watch Eren struggle over compromising with him. “We’ll have to go back for equipment from the room.” He cast a glance at Eren’s knuckles. Jean had a bad feeling about the way Eren’s little finger on his left hand looked. “Get your hands fixed up.”

“Will you fuck off about my hands.” Eren muttered, eyes on the ground. “I don’t need you to look after me.”

Jean sighed, frustrated. “Shut the fuck up, I’m washing them out a least. You’ve been poking around in that barn and I really don’t need your hands falling off at this crucial point in the mission, okay?” Eren was still staring at the ground, and dropped his cigarette butt to grind out with the heel of his shoe. “ _Okay?_ “ Jean repeated.

“Yes, fine.” Eren snapped, turning his gaze on the farm in the distance. “Fine.” He repeated quietly, crossing his arms.

“Fine.” Jean echoed. “Let’s get moving, then.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Eren muttered, casting one last glance back at the crater before following Jean back to the farm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've been having a green flares related crisis all day involving flowcharts and other stupid shit and i almost forgot it was monday go me. have this semi-filler chapter of ur fave yaois poking around a barn ?? i'm


	10. Chapter 10

Two trips to neighbouring farms (no sightings of a little green-eyed boy, thankfully) and a raid of Mary Miller’s medical cabinet later, Jean was sitting cross-legged on one of the hotel beds, daubing antiseptic onto Eren’s split knuckles.

“Mother _fucker_.” Eren hissed, his hand jerking in Jean’s grip a little. “That fucking _burns_.”

“Good.” Jean muttered. “It means it’s working.”

He’d washed the blood away in the bathroom sink, ignoring a cursing Eren as he scrubbed at his knuckles. It was all he deserved, really. He didn’t have to punch that wall until he broke the skin, after all. After the blood had been washed away, they hadn’t looked so dire. All he needed was antiseptic and bandages, really.

“Palm up.” Jean said, when he’d finished with the antiseptic, and wound bandages around Eren’s hands, looping between his fingers and over his palm until his knuckles were covered over. When he was done, Eren held them up in front of him, clenching and unclenching experimentally.

“Cool.” He commented, then dropped his hands to his lap, looking awkward. “Thanks, I guess.”

“You’re welcome, I guess.” Jean muttered sarcastically, giving Eren a small smile as he scowled. “Lighten up.”

Eren shot him a disbelieving look. “Y’know, there’s not a lot to lighten up about, right now.”

Jean unfolded himself from his position on the bed and stretched, grunting as his back popped satisfyingly. Eren made a small sound of disgust. “There’s plenty to lighten up about.” Jean said, crossing over to Eren’s case and dropping the bloody cotton wool in the bin as he went. “For example,” He murmured, unzipping the case and flipping it open. “Trying out some of these.”

Levi hadn’t left them short of firepower for their trip west. Quite the opposite. The amount of tech he’d managed to fit into just one suitcase was truly staggering. Jean held up the biggest thing in the case, a net-launcher that was longer than his forearm and twice as thick. He grinned. Eren didn’t look impressed, just flopped onto his back on the bed, threw a bandaged hand over his eyes. Jean let the launcher fall back into the case, and eyed Eren from his seat on the floor. 

Here was the thing: Jean was bad at dealing with emotions. He was absolutely terrible at it. He couldn’t deal with his own, let alone try to work someone else through _their_ problems. It just didn’t process with him. Jean was the type to bottle things up for a long time, which wasn’t healthy, but it worked for a short time. Eren seemed like the sort who dwelt on things for too long, couldn’t shove it to the back of his mind, just let it fester into bitterness. Jean cleared his throat.

“Eren?”

Eren grunted wordlessly, pressing a hand into his eyes. Jean shuffled forwards until he was in the little gap between the two beds, right next to Eren’s legs. Physical comfort, right? That was a good thing?

“If you wanna talk about it,” Jean said softly. “You can.”

“I don’t want to talk about my fucking _feelings_.” Eren muttered scornfully. Jean loosened the tie around his neck, huffed out a little sigh, waiting.

It was warm in the room, a little hotter than was comfortable, especially in all that black. The curtains were drawn, and the bright sunlight filtering through the ugly orange curtains gave the room a warm, soft glow. It smelt a little like antiseptic, which wasn’t unpleasant, but mostly the musty smell of the barn from their suits, which was a little less pleasant.

After a few minutes of silence, Eren sat up with a sigh. He propped his elbows on his knees, hunched forward, staring off into space. Jean watched him, eyes mapping his profile in the dim light, his little upturned nose, his full lips. 

“It’s just being back.” Eren muttered finally, not looking at Jean. “Mostly because I barely remember anything.” He laughed, a little sadly. “I don‘t remember what my mother‘s voice sounded like. I feel guilty as fuck.”

Jean hummed, picking at a loose thread on the comforter. The floor wasn’t very comfortable, but he didn’t really feel like moving. Besides, he was sitting between Eren’s legs now that he’d sat up, and he kinda liked it. Which was worrying, and was probably a symptom of some kind of Stockholm Syndrome, but Jean decided to enjoy it while he could. “Don’t feel guilty.” He said eventually, when Eren didn’t continue. “It’s bound to happen, it’s not your fault.”

“I know that.” Eren said sharply. “Doesn’t stop me feeling shitty over it, though.”

“I know.” Jean said sincerely, looking up at Eren as he glanced down. Their eyes met, Eren looking startled, big eyes impossibly green. His eyes had been the first thing that had stood out for Jean, before he knew about his strong, capable hands, his skinny hips and crooked eye teeth. Jean tipped his head back against the bed he was leaning against. Time slowed.

“What happened to you last time you were on fieldwork?” Eren asked carefully, his eyes boring into Jean through the orange half-light. Jean exhaled and glanced over to the side, breaking Eren‘s gaze.

“I don’t-” He broke off and laughed awkwardly, smoothed his hand through his hair. “I don’t really want to talk about it?”

Eren snorted and looked away too, the heavy atmosphere still lingering between them. “So you get to know everything about me, but I know nothing about you?” He caught Jean opening his mouth, about to retort, and cut him off. “Don’t say you don’t know everything about me. You know all about the case, you know everything that’s important about me.”

Jean stared at him, brow furrowed. “That’s not everything that’s important about you.” He said softly. Eren shrugged and grunted, still not meeting Jean’s eye. “Don’t define yourself by that.”

“It’s all anyone wants to know anyway.” He spat, hunched over his knees and staring at the ground. “As soon as they hear my name, that’s all they care about. That case is _me_ , Jean.” Eren looked at him then, expression defeated. “No one wants to get close to me after they find out. Like I’m fucking cursed or something.”

Jean leant forward and grasped Eren’s shoulder, trying to convey how _stupid_ he was being in just one look. “You’re not cursed. That case isn’t you, it’s time to let go of it.” He said, then paused, weighing his words. “And I’m close to you, even though you’re an insufferable brat.” He smirked slightly as he said that, and smiled as Eren’s lips quirked up in a grudging smile.

Eren’s expression of reluctant amusement changed as he looked at Jean, face half shadowed in the dim light. It looked almost considering. Jean’s hand was still on his shoulder, he realised dumbly, just as Eren muttered a low, “Fuck it,” and slid his bandaged hand over Jean’s nape to draw him closer to kiss.

Jean froze, completely corpsed out, as Eren pressed a rough kiss to his lips, hand tightening on the nape of his neck. It wasn’t until Eren was drawing away that Jean reacted, bringing the hand that had been gripping his shoulder to tangle in his hair. Eren made a soft, surprised noise against his lips and Jean yanked him closer, kissing him back roughly. Eren responded as enthusiastically as Jean thought he would, pushing back against Jean, nipping at his lips until Jean opened them and Eren could slide his tongue against Jean’s.

It wasn’t particularly romantic, and there wasn’t anything soft about it. The scrape of stubble, Eren’s breath fanning across his lips as he broke away to bite at the swell of Jean’s lip. Jean let Eren kiss him, let him flick his tongue over Jean’s teeth, suck his lower lip into his mouth and bite it ragged. As he eased off, Jean tilted Eren’s face down so he could kiss him carefully, their lips moving together like they had all the time in the world. Eren made another soft noise against Jean’s mouth, and his tongue flicked out to graze along Jean’s bottom lip. Jean splayed his fingers over Eren’s throat and kissed him stupid.

Caught up in the stupid, dizzy glow of kissing someone for the first time, someone who he’d been low-key lusting after, Jean had a surreal out of body experience, time seeming to stretch and twist until they were the only things that mattered. Eren, leaning forward on the bed, Jean on his knees as he kissed him breathless, in the hot, orange-lit motel room at the end of the world. Jean had never felt comfortable with how his life had happened, chapter by wrong chapter, but in that strange, dragging moment, he couldn’t think of anyone else he’d rather be.

“Huh.” He murmured stupidly as they broke apart, Eren still so close that Jean could feel his little puffs of air on his lips as Eren exhaled. “I’m feeling dangerously sentimental.” He said with a laugh. Eren touched his forehead to Jean’s and smiled, pushing forward a little.

“Sorry.” He said, “That kinda came out of nowhere.”

“Only kind of.” Jean said, laughing again. He felt giddy and warm, stupid in his black suit when there they were, making out like teenagers. He kissed Eren again, tilting his head back to catch his lips, rolling his tongue over Eren’s and catching his bottom lip between his teeth. “You kiss like you’ve got something to prove.” He muttered. 

“Maybe I do.” Eren bit back, tightening his fingers in Jean’s hair a little. “Come up here.” He said, releasing him and shuffling back on the bed, patting the space next to him. Jean stood, but lingered, glancing at his watch.

“We shouldn’t waste more time than we have-” Eren cut him off with a sharp yank on his tie. Jean let himself be tugged closer to the bed and manhandled until he was lying on his side next to Eren, tie askew.

“Shut up.” Eren advised, and kissed him again.

“Nice to see where our taxpayer dollars are going.” Jean said, as Eren undid the first two buttons of his shirt before biting a mark in the hollow of his throat. 

“You’re an ass.” Eren murmured, blowing lightly on the stinging mark he’d left. 

“You’re a brat.” Jean shot back, and tugged on the back of Eren’s collar before he left any more marks.

Kissing Eren made Jean feel oddly young, lying there with Eren propped up over him, kissing him breathless. It wasn’t like Jean was old, but there was something excitingly teenage about just lying on a bed, making out. Jean felt like Weezer should be playing in the background, or something, as Eren sucked a little mark on the underside of Jean’s jaw.

“We should get back, shouldn’t we?” Jean muttered, staring up at the ceiling. Eren made a grumpy little noise against Jean’s throat and slumped onto his side, curling his fingers in Jean’s shirt, tugging it out of his pants a little.

“Maybe we could just stay here a little longer.” Eren said quietly, fingers brushing little circles into the now-bare skin of Jean’s hip. Jean swallowed and shifted a little. Eren stilled his movements.

“We’re on a _job_.” Jean stressed, wanting nothing more than to kiss Eren silly, but knowing that he couldn’t. “Levi would have an absolute aneurysm if he knew.”

“He won’t know.” Eren breathed, pressing closer again. Jean made a frustrated noise. Eren snorted. “Fine, have it your way.” He muttered, and relaxed against Jean’s side. 

They lay there quietly for a moment, Jean feeling strange and kinda stupid with the taste of Eren still on his lips. The warmth of the room and the glow of the sun through the curtains was making him drowsy. It felt like he could maybe catch a good nights sleep for the first time in weeks. He closed his eyes and breathed.

“Last time I was on fieldwork, my partner got almost fatally injured because of something stupid I did.” He said it in a rush, the words falling out of him before he realised he was speaking. The moment they were out Jean felt a weight ease off his chest that he hadn’t noticed had been there. He breathed deep and didn’t look at Eren.

“What?” Eren propped himself up on his elbow, a small shift of motion beside Jean. He looked up at him, whose face was a mask of confusion. _God_ , Jean thought, _why did I waste so much time disliking this kid?_ He looked good in the heavy glow of the lamp, shirt creased and open to the hollow of his throat, hair a warm dark halo around his head. He still had his holster on, even, a dark slash over his shoulders. “What happened?”

Jean glanced back to the ceiling, not wanting to see Eren’s expression as he told him. He’d probably not trust him any longer, after he heard. Jean shouldn’t be responsible for anyone’s life, especially someone like Eren.

“It was a pretty standard job.” He started, voice low. “It was a year ago, or so, just the usual possible nutjob sort of thing. Thought he had a craft in his back garden. So we went out there with a couple of guys from the labs, actually found something in the ground, which was surprising.” He paused and snuck a little glance Eren’s way. He looked serious, lip caught between his teeth. Jean frowned and turned his attention back to the cracked ceiling. “It was… _something_. Not a craft, but a weird machine. I was kinda fucking around with it, touching it, y’know. Goofing around with Marco, we were fuckin’ idiots.” He muttered bitterly. “It exploded.” He said, voice quiet. Eren made a little noise next to him. “I dropped it and it fuckin’ exploded. Shrapnel everywhere, big chunks of it-” He cut himself off and dropped a hand over his eyes.

Eren nudged him in the side, voice serious. “What happened to Marco?”

“It went in his chest, in his _leg_.” Jean said painfully. “Broke the bone so bad it needed pins and plates and fuck knows what.” He brought his hand away from his face and looked over to Eren, whose eyes were wide and round. “He’s only just stopped walking with crutches. He’ll never walk properly again, and it’s all my fault.”

“It’s not your fault.” Eren said, right away. Jean snorted.

“Yes it is. If I hadn’t been fucking around with that thing, it wouldn’t have exploded and it wouldn’t have hurt Marco.” He said bitterly, staring up at the ceiling again. 

“Don’t blame yourself.” Eren said seriously. Jean didn’t reply, knew it would be no use. They could go back and forth like that all night.

“Sorry.” Jean said after a while, feeling a little numb. Eren shifted next to him, but Jean didn’t look over. 

“What for?” Eren asked, voice quiet in his ear.

“For just dumping that on you.” He huffed embarrassedly. “I kinda bottle stuff up until it explodes everywhere. Been trying not to do that so much, so.”

“That’s kinda unhealthy.” Eren muttered with a laugh. Jean scoffed.

“Don’t you tell me what’s healthy or not, you’re a fuck up.” He laughed, more to take the sting out of the words than finding it funny. Eren snorted.

“Yeah, you’re right.” He muttered. “Everyone’s got their fuck ups though, it’s okay.”

“I don’t need you to tell me I’m okay.” Jean shot back, feeling oddly warmed by Eren’s words despite himself.

“Just don’t dwell on the Marco thing.” Eren said. Jean frowned. Hypocrite. All Eren ever thought about was what had happened to his mother. They were silent for a few minutes, then Eren propped himself up on his elbows and leant over Jean, who gave him a questioning look.

“What?”

Eren wrinkled his nose, brows furrowing. “If you were holding the box when it exploded, how come you don’t have any scars?”

Jean stared at him for a long moment before sitting up and beginning to undo his tie. “I do.” He said softly, slinging it aside and unbuttoning his shirt. “Just wasn’t as bad as Marco’s, is all.” He shrugged his shirt off and turned so Eren could see his left side, the discoloured scars like a starbust of violence across his chest and over his ribs, littering over his shoulder. Eren sucked in a breath, eyes wide. “It’s from the shrapnel.” Jean said into the silence. 

“Shit.” He said, whistling, reaching out unthinkingly, as if he wanted to touch. Jean moved back a little before his fingertips could make contact, and Eren dropped his hand like he’d been burnt. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s whatever.” He said, lying back down and dragging Eren closer by his hips. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i feel like this is a super long update ?? i didn't want to break it up awkwardly so...
> 
> but finally...what u have been waiting for...and also The Marco Story is revealed!! i hope u liked this chapter?? comments r appreciated and thank u all for reading and leaving comments and kudos i'm so happy that people are liking this fic that started life as an out of control askbox prompt?? u all rock


	11. Chapter 11

They arrived back at the farm at nightfall, the back of the car loaded down with their equipment. Eren looked tired, hair mussed and collar askew. Jean straightened him up before they entered the house, pulling his own collar up over the mark Eren had left on his neck. Eren smirked at him, and Jean scowled and punched him on the arm. 

Mary was putting the kids to bed when they knocked on the front door, but hustled them inside when she answered.

“I’ve got some food and coffee for the two of you.” She said, handing them a sizeable stack of sandwiches and a couple of flasks. “Since you’re out there all night.”

Jean smiled and thanked her, covertly elbowing Eren to do the same. She gave them both a maternal smile and told them to try and get some rest.

“If anything happens,” she said seriously, glancing out the kitchen window into the darkness of the farm. “Don’t hesitate to come back here and wake someone up.”

Jean nodded and thanked her again, keeping it to himself that if they couldn’t handle it, there was no way two civilians could.

They drove out to the crater, parked a small distance away so they could see it, as well as keeping the barn in clear view. Then, they waited. It was pitch black by then, and Jean didn’t risk turning the lights on in the car in case they drew attention to themselves. Instead, the sat in the dark and drank Mary’s deadly black coffee.

“What do you think it looks like?” Eren asked quietly, staring off into the blackness. Jean didn’t have to ask what he meant, just shrugged.

“Who knows. Vaguely humanoid, probably.”

“Creepy.” Eren muttered. “I wonder if it’ll change back to it’s original shape or stay as me.”

“I don’t know.” Jean mused. They lapsed into silence again, eyes adjusting to the dark until the black scar of the crater was easily visible. Jean always forgot what night was like in these tiny towns. Not like night in big cities. This was _real_ night. So black you can barely see your hand in front of your face. The blackness stretching for miles around, unbroken, swallowing everything up. Sometimes, Jean thought, a little bit of light pollution didn’t go amiss.

As if he’d been thinking the same thing, Eren shivered and muttered, “It’s always too dark out here.” He groped around for the thermos of coffee, and mumbled a thank you when Jean handed it to him. “I always used to be afraid of the dark as the kid. It’s absolute, out here.”

“Even if the thing does show up, we probably won’t see it.” Jean muttered. Eren hummed in agreement.

“What if it sees us first?” He asked quietly. He was very still all of a sudden, and when Jean glanced over, he looked frightened, eyes wide. Jean rolled his eyes and nudged him.

“Hey, what happened to wanting to get out here and kill it, huh?” He asked, trying to get back some of the spirit Eren had had at the start of the trip. “You were pumped for kicking some alien ass.”

Eren turned to scowl at him, eyes like lasers through the darkness. “I still want to kill it.” He said determinedly. “And I’m going to. Especially now it thinks it can use my face and get away with it.”

Jean chuckled and slapped him on the shoulder. “There it is.” He said. “Keep that up and this whole thing will go fine.” Jean, on the other hand, was less optimistic. Perhaps because it was less of a vengeful thing for him, and more of a duty, but the thought of having to take this thing on was a lot more daunting. 

They sat in silence for a while. Jean drank another cup of coffee, stared out into the darkness around them. Eren was twitchy like he always was, fiddling with the glove box, tapping his fingers on his knees. After a truly artistic rendition of Highway To Hell played with two pens from the glove box, Jean slapped them out of his hands, and they were silent.

“What’s Marco like?” Eren piped up, seemingly desperate for conversation. All Jean wanted to do was sit back in silence, ruminate over the brand new information they’d gotten, maybe play a game of Tetris on his phone. He sighed.

“I’ll introduce you two when all this is over.” He paused and ran his fingers over the steering wheel, thinking about blood soaking into the grass, the scars on Marco’s leg. “He’s a good guy.” He said quietly. “Better than I deserve, anyway.”

Eren scoffed and slouched back in his seat, feet propped on the dash. “You’re plenty good yourself.” He said brusquely. Jean didn’t reply, just leant his temple against the cool glass of the window. Eren snorted suddenly. “So what, you still wanna see me after this? Thought you couldn’t wait to get rid of me.”

Jean rolled his eyes and slouched lower in his seat. “Shut up.” He mumbled. Like he had any intention of ‘getting rid’ of Eren. He’d grown oddly attached to him, and if their actions in the hotel room were any indication of how he felt about him, well. Whatever. Jean was oddly fond of the kid and maybe wanted to take him out for coffee, or something. See what he was like when they didn’t have the possibility of aliens breathing down their necks.

Eren just smirked at that, and settled back into his seat with a sigh. They lapsed into silence again, their tiredness sapping at their energy. With a few cups of Mary’s deadly black coffee inside him, Jean was buzzing, sleep a far off dream, but Eren was lagging. 

“Don’t fall asleep on me.” Jean warned, glancing across at the way Eren was curled up in the seat next to him, regarding him with lazy, heavy-lidded eyes. He shrugged languidly, and yawned so wide Jean could see his fillings in his molars. 

“No promises.” He mumbled, and shook his head at the cup of coffee Jean offered him. “I don’t like coffee.”

“You don’t have to like it.” Jean grumbled, but left him to it. Maybe it would be smart for him to catch some sleep now, just in case anything revealed itself. If it came down to having to catch the alien tonight, Jean would probably fuck up because of how bad he had the caffeine shakes. He scowled into the dark. Fucking aliens. Fucking kids. Fucking child-clone aliens. 

“I wonder what Mikasa’s doing.” Eren mumbled sleepily, bringing his knees up to his chest. Jean stared at him stupidly for a minute, searching his mind for where he’d heard that name before. 

“Your sister?” He blurted stupidly, thinking of the dark haired little girl in the picture from Eren’s wallet.

“Adopted.” Eren mumbled, shifting a little to get comfortable. “She was pissed she couldn’t come with me on this.” He frowned into the darkness. “I think this is the longest we’ve been apart since she joined our family.”

“Intense.” Jean muttered, thinking of his two little sisters at home and the way they’d hang off him when they were young. They were sixteen now, and barely gave him the time of day. Growing up sucked. “So, she’s interested in the case?”

Eren shrugged one shoulder. “Probably wanted to come along to keep an eye on me.” He gave Jean a sidelong look. “She’s really protective of me.”

“Huh.” Jean said. After a pause he added, “She does know you’re in your twenties, right?”

Eren snorted. “It’s not like that. She just used to look after Armin and me when we were kids. Armin was weak, I was a little shit. She kept us out of trouble.”

Jean stared around at the absolute _nothingness_ around them. “What trouble was there to keep you out of around here?”

Eren just rolled his eyes. “Hey, no-one will tell her about the Marco thing, right?” He asked after a minute, looking sly. Jean shook his head hesitantly, unsure if he was being made fun of.

“Doubt it, no one really talks about it.” He muttered, thinking back to how Sasha and Connie had looked at him the weeks following the accident.

Eren nodded. “Good, because she’d probably step on Erwin Smith’s balls if she found out he’d put me in the field with someone who’d endangered his last partner.”

It wasn’t funny, but despite himself Jean found himself laughing at the mental image of Eren’s sister busting Smith’s balls. “Fuck, what’d she do to _me_ then?” He asked, and Eren pulled a face at him that suggested he didn’t want to know.

“She won’t know.” Jean assured him. Eren grunted and nodded, settling himself in the seat.

Half an hour later, Eren was snoring lightly, face against the window. Jean tried shoving him in the shoulder a couple of times to not success. The kid slept like a fucking log.

Jean resigned himself to a long night of caffeine jitters and squinting into complete blackness. It was so still outside, so absurdly dark, that it was almost creepy. Jean had never been afraid of the dark, not even as a little kid, but now he was definitely feeling a little _aware_. It wasn’t even fear, just a feeling of all his senses being heightened so much that he was just too on guard.

He poured himself another cup of coffee and sat back to watch the night, mind ticking over with the sight of Marco bleeding into the dirt at the forefront of his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! sorry for the week delay i've been super busy with various stuff but i passed my exams!! so it all paid off i guess! i'm kinda eh about this chapter but i've been so stressed over this fic?? and busy so i'm just like. okay. 
> 
> anyway ok thank u for reading!!
> 
> also there's been some rad fanart drawn for this fic which u should def check out [here!](http://girlshinji.tumblr.com/tagged/gf%3A-fanart)


	12. Chapter 12

Nothing came of their nighttime stakeout, and they returned to their hotel room with a dejected air. Jean, still buzzing from the copious amounts of caffeine he’d ingested over the course of the night, paced around their room while Eren showered.

“I don’t know where to go from here!” He called through the door over the sound of rushing water. He heard no reply, but continued. “Apart from sitting around like last night, there’s not a lot else we can do. I’m coming up blank.” He admitted, taking a seat on the end of one of the beds. The sound of the water stopped, and a few seconds later Eren emerged, hair wet and a towel around his hips. Jean fought the urge to stare, because really, they were on a case that had very little time for Jean’s dick.

“We could actually actively search for it.” Eren said, stepping past him to pull clean underwear on. “Rather than sitting on our asses waiting for it to come to us.”

Jean grunted and crossed his arms. “We don’t even know where to start.” He said, eyes tracking Eren as he moved around the room, collecting various parts of his suit from where he’d thrown them. He was currently only wearing his shirt, hanging loose of his shoulder, unbuttoned. When he stood against the window, the sunlight coming through turned the fabric transparent, showing off the curve of his waist and hips. Again, Jean needed to remind himself that this wasn’t a little trip for him to get laid, but an actual alien hunt. Sometimes he had an embarrassingly one track mind.

“Go back to the farm? Ask around town? Shower because you stink?” Eren muttered the last part into his hair, before pressing a kiss to his head and stepping away to find his pants. Jean blushed and scratched his hand through his hair, thrown off by the unusual display of affection.

“Didn’t you want to see if you could find your friend?” He muttered, trying to figure out if he wasn’t tired enough to shower. The combination of the heat of the shower and the fact that he’d slept about four hours in two days might result in a disaster, i.e him falling asleep in the shower and Eren having to fish him out. 

Eren had his back to him, and Jean didn’t miss the way his shoulders tensed up for a second, before relaxing as he sighed. “Yeah.” He said, turning to face Jean, expression closed. “Armin. I’ll think about it.”

Jean stood, having decided to risk a shower. “Well, you know, people are always more likely to spill if it’s to someone they know.” He shrugged, leaning against the bathroom door frame. “He might know something.”

Eren nodded, staring at his feet. “I’ll think about it.” He said quietly. Jean decided to give him some space, stepped into the bathroom with an awkward little nod.

He showered quickly, the water on cold to prevent any embarrassing pass outs, thoughts running in circles the way they tended to do when he hadn’t gotten enough sleep. The outright failure of last night was a bit of a blow, especially since he was coming up blank with what they should do next. He blamed it partly on his sluggish mind - he wasn’t exactly on top form, after all. 

It was just a difficult situation, and one he wasn’t completely prepared for. He hadn’t factored in creepy shape shifting kid-aliens into his plans for this mission, after all. He couldn’t help feel like it was all very _suspicious_ , how the first case Eren got assigned to was one he was emotionally affected by, and that the alien they’re looking for is possibly masquerading as his younger self. It was just weird to Jean how well timed it all was.

By the time he stepped out of the shower and pulled some fresh clothes on, Eren seemed back to normal. _He_ seemed well rested, at least, having gotten practically a full nights sleep while Jean vibrated with caffeine and uselessness in the seat next to him.

“So, did you think about it?” Jean asked, putting his arms through his holster and sliding his gun into place. Eren watched him, eyes darting up to his face for a second before he glanced away.

“Yeah, I think it’d be a good idea.” He said impassively. “Armin’s always been too smart for his own good, after all.”

Jean grinned at him and slung his jacket on, tugging on it to straighten it out. “Alright, great. I mean, we can trust him, right?”

Eren nodded emphatically, picking up his jacket from where it was draped over the TV and pulling it on. “Oh, yeah. I mean, I haven’t seen him in so long but. I’d trust him with anything.” He nodded again, more to himself than Jean, and reached for his gun.

“D’you know where to find him?” Jean asked, moving past Eren to open the door. He stepped outside into the morning sunlight, grimaced at the thought of how hot they were going to get. They’d probably stand out, looking like this in such a tiny town in the middle of summer, but at least they’d be taken seriously.

“His grandpa used to own this old bookstore in town.” Eren said, following him out into the sunlight. His hair was still damp from his shower, and curled around his ears and at the nape of his neck. Jean itched to reach out and tuck a stand that fell into his face away, but held himself back. “He’s probably working there now, if he stayed here.”

“Let’s go, then.” Jean said, feeling a little more optimistic now they had a goal in mind. He led the way to the car, hoping to god that this Armin had decided to stay in Lakin after all these years.

\---------

The drive into the centre of the town went by quickly, most of their conversation being directions from Eren to where Armin’s grandpa’s shop was. Jean was again struck by how empty the town seemed, even mid-morning, when people would normally be out doing things. It was like a ghost town. He shuddered and grimaced. God, he hated creepy little small towns like this.

When they reached the shop, Jean parked up on the kerb a few metres away, and they sat in the car for a minute, Eren looking nervous.

“Let’s do it quick.” Jean said finally, opening his door and throwing a glance over his shoulder at Eren, who was biting his fingernails. “Like ripping off a band aid.”

“Yeah.” Eren said in a small voice, then got out to join Jean. He stretched, exhaling loudly, and then nodded to himself. “Alright.” He said, stronger. 

“Why the nerves?” Jean asked as they began walking towards the shop. Eren shrugged, hands in his pockets, shoulders hunched. 

“I haven’t seen him since I left.” He replied. “Anyone would get nervous.”

Jean shrugged and they lapsed into silence.

The store was a tiny building sandwiched between a bakery and a post office. A slightly faded sign above the door read _’Alert’s Bookshop’_ , and when they pushed the door open a bell rang through the quiet of the shop.

Despite its size, the store was packed to the ceiling with bookcases overflowing with books. There didn’t seem to be any order to them, and several stacks were just on the ground, some reaching as far as Jean’s thigh. It smelt musty, like old paper and warm dust. It wasn’t unpleasant.

A short blond guy stood behind the counter at the back of the shop, and glanced up from a heavy leather book at the sound of the bell. He offered them a cursory greeting, then did a double take, eyes widening. 

“Eren?” He said in a disbelieving voice, letting his book fall shut as he leant over the counter. Eren smiled and raised his hand in an awkward wave. “You’re kidding!” The boy, who Jean assumed to be Armin, grinned brightly before rounding the counter and began to pick his way through the bookcases towards them.

“Hi.” Eren said nervously, then was knocked back with a quiet ‘oof’ as Armin threw himself at him, hugging him tightly. He laughed, and patted the top of Armin’s head. “Hey, man.”

Jean felt very much like he was witnessing something private, and busied himself with looking at a book he picked up from the shelves. He could hear Armin exclaiming over Eren’s suit, over his gun, over how much he’d grown. Eren wasn’t offering much conversation, not with how fast Armin was chattering, but when Jean looked over he had a fond smile on his face and was staring at Armin like he was trying to absorb every detail of him. Jean looked away, flicking through a dusty book on 18th century poetry.

“This is Jean.” Eren said, tugging on Jean’s arm. “He’s my partner.”

Jean gave him a quick smile before turning to shake Armin’s hand. “Hi.” He said awkwardly, looking down at the boy in front of him. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Armin smiled, cheeks flushed pink. He looked out of place in the dusty, dark bookshop, all big blue eyes and blond hair. He looked _young_ , younger than Eren.

“Nice to meet you too.” He said, dimpling. Jean stared in amazement. _Cute_.

“I can’t believe you’re still here.” Eren said, cutting in. Armin rolled his eyes and glanced away, smiling.

“I can’t believe you came _back_.” He said. Eren pouted over-exaggeratedly. 

“Thanks.” He muttered, looking away until Armin laughed and punched him on the arm. “Actually, we’re here on a case.” He said, a little more seriously. Armin perked up, giving them both an interested look

“Oh yeah?” He said. “Can you divulge it to the public or is it _confidential?_ ” He grinned, and Eren shot Jean a questioning look over Armin’s head. Jean shrugged, tilting his head to the side. Eren scrunched up his face then shrugged as well. Armin watched them, glancing back and forth at their silent exchange.

“Uh.” Jean cleared his throat. “Actually, we were hoping you could help us out with some information.” He glanced around the shop. “Are you the only one here?”

Armin suddenly looked uneasy, glancing towards the back of the shop and back to Eren. “My grandpa’s upstairs.” He said, and hesitated. “And, uh.”

There was the sound of footsteps from the back of the shop, and when Jean looked over at the noise, he found himself looking at what could be a tiny clone of Armin, peering around the counter. A strange chill ran up his back as the child gazed solemnly at them with his big green eyes, the only thing setting him apart from Armin. He looked over at Eren, who looked equally uncomfortable.

“Who’s he, Armin?” Eren asked slowly. Armin looked a little hesitant, but beckoned the child closer.

“He’s, uh, my cousin.” He muttered unconvincingly, and Jean’s feeling of unease grew as the child approached, gaze flicking between the three of them. His eyes looked eerily old in his young face, and Jean felt himself taking a step back as the child came to a stop in front of them. “His name is Sam.” Armin said. 

Sam looked up at Jean, who was staring down at him uneasily. The thick silence of the shop lay over them like a blanket, heavy and muffling. Claustrophobic. Then he smiled, showing a mouthful of tiny white teeth. There was something sinister in it, something completely _other_. Jean looked over at Eren, breaking the child’s eye contact with difficulty, alarm bells ringing in his head. Eren stared back, eyes wide.

When Armin cleared his throat, they both jumped like they’d been electrocuted. The sound seemed to rush back into the world, birds singing outside, the steady tick of the clock on the wall. When Jean looked down at the child, Sam, he was staring disinterestedly off into space, looking completely unassuming. 

“Cute kid.” Jean said, dazed. Eren looked at him like he was crazy, and Jean shot him a look that he hoped conveyed how completely fucking _creeped out_ he was.

“Yeah.” Armin said uncomfortably. “Look, are you guys here for a while? We should go get a coffee and catch up.” He gave both of them a desperate look, and Jean and Eren nodded simultaneously.

“Good idea.” Eren said with a forced smile. “When d’you finish work?”

Armin glanced at the clock. “I’ll meet you at the cafe in town at half one.” He said. They were all steadfastly ignoring Sam, who was still lingering by Armin’s side. He wasn’t looking at them, and seemed to be completely preoccupied, but Jean got the sense that he was listening to them. The little glances at Jean and Eren out of the corner of his eye, the way he stepped closer to Jean, brushing against his leg. Jean fought back a shudder and grinned mechanically.

“We’ve gotta go talk to some other people now.” He said, giving Eren a pointed look. “So we’ll see you later?”

Armin nodded, glancing down at Sam. “Yeah.” He said. “I’ll see you later.”

They said their goodbyes, and let themselves out of the shop, Jean glancing back one last time to see Armin cross back to the counter, Sam in tow.

“Okay, I wasn’t the only one who felt that creepy vibe in there, was I?” Eren asked as they walked back to the car. Jean shook his head.

“Something is definitely up here.” He said in a low voice, glancing around at the empty, silent streets. All along both sides of the road there were several boarded up shops, others with signs and paint peeling from disuse. They’d only gotten a glance of Lakin from their drives in, but it was overall just a tiny, creepy silent town. Ominous. “I am _not_ getting good vibes from this place.” He muttered as they climbed back into the car. 

Eren snorted. “No duh. It’s creepy as hell here.” He buckled his seatbelt and paused. “Have you noticed that we haven’t seen a single person just walking around since we got here? No buses, no one sitting around on benches or shopping.” He gave Jean a heavy look.

“Was it like this when you lived here?” Jean asked, hand hesitating on his keys. Eren shook his head sharply.

“It was just a regular small town. Everybody knew everyone, you couldn’t walk down the street without bumping into someone and starting up a conversation.” He sighed and glanced out the window at the empty streets. “I think there’s something bigger than just that one alien.” He said finally. “I think this is bigger than we could ever expect.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope this chapter wasn't too boring?? it was one i wrote right in the middle of my writers block a few weeks ago so i'm deeply sorry if it seems a little stilted lmao
> 
> comments are appreciated !! thank u for reading


	13. Chapter 13

Armin was at the café before them, looking twitchy at a table near the back of the practically deserted place. Eren and Jean passed an old man reading a newspaper in the window seat, silently taking in the emptiness of the tiny café. 

“Slow business, huh?” Jean said, taking a seat opposite Armin and moving in a little so Eren could squeeze past him. Armin laughed, casting a quick glance behind him. It sounded a little forced, and Jean gave him a curious look that he studiously avoided.

“What d’you want?” A surly old woman holding a pen and a paper pad appeared behind them, surprising Eren and making him tip over the saltcellar as he jumped.

“Black coffee.” Jean said, throwing an exasperated glance at Eren as he began to scoop the salt into a pile. “Eren?”

“Tea.” Eren said shortly, then looked up as the woman turned away and called, “And some sugar, please!”

Jean gave him a blank look, to which Eren shrugged. “You like a lot of sugar in your coffee.” He muttered, trailing a finger through the salt. Jean stared. 

Armin cleared his throat nervously, snapping Jean’s attention away from Eren and back to the matter at hand.

“So, Eren,” He said brightly, eyes looking a bit wild as he glanced around the café. “What’s happened with you?”

While Eren chattered away with Armin about foster parents and FBI training and everything in between, Jean cast his eyes around the café, giving it a slow once-over for the sight of any creepy looking kids. It was only then that Jean realised Armin had ditched his cousin. Thank god. He’d given Jean the serious creeps, especially when he thought back to what Eren had said back in the car. It was possible, but Jean preferred to put it down to stress-related paranoia since there wasn’t any real evidence otherwise. Hell, if Jean found out an alien was running around disguised as him he’d be fucking paranoid as well.

The waitress came by with their orders, and Jean scowled at Eren as he pushed the sugar towards him, Armin looking a little bemused at their wordless exchange.

“So, you guys been partners long?” He asked, glancing back at forth between them. Eren snorted unattractively into his tea and Jean shot him a dirty look.

“Like, a week.” Jean muttered, taking a sip of his scalding coffee. Armin looked surprised, like he hadn’t expected that someone who’d known Eren only a week was able to sit next to him without strangling him. Sometimes, Jean wondered himself. “Eren got fast-tracked or something.” He added. Armin gave Eren a wide-eyed look, which he returned, as if he couldn’t believe it. Jean rolled his eyes. Like Eren hadn’t been acting all high and mighty about it since the start.

“That’s impressive.” Armin said, to which Eren replied with a modest shrug. Jean rolled his eyes again.

“You could’ve reached senior level in like a month.” Eren scoffed. “You’re ten times more intelligent than me.”

Armin laughed and ducked his head but didn’t deny it, just sipped at his tea and flicked his eyes towards the door. Jean hadn’t missed how twitchy he was being, glancing around the room and out the windows, as if he was waiting for someone. 

“But what’re you doing now?” Eren asked, leaning over the table a little. “Just working in your grandpa’s shop or are you doing anything else?”

“Saving up to move away, actually.” Armin said in a quiet voice, gaze going to the door again. “Listen, you guys, I didn’t ask you here for a catch up.” He said, even quieter, looking slightly nervous as he looked at them with beseeching eyes. 

“What is it?” Eren asked, looking serious all of a sudden, face slipping into what Jean recognised as his Professional expression. Jean frowned and leaned forward as well, ducking his head to try and catch Armin’s gaze as he glanced away.

“Uh, listen.” Armin stared down at his hands. “There’s been some weird shit going on since you left, Eren.” He glanced up, and his expression was frightened. Suddenly, Jean realised why Armin had asked them to this deserted little café. Away from that kid he claimed was his cousin. Jean swallowed, a bad feeling creeping into his stomach. 

“Armin, what’s been happening.” He asked in a low voice. Eren shot him a look that mirrored exactly the sense of dread he was feeling. Jean thought of Eren’s words again, _I think there’s something bigger_ , and frowned.

Armin rubbed at his eyes before giving them a frightened look. “It’s not safe to talk here.” He muttered. Jean gave him a confused look. Just how bad was this going to be? “We should go somewhere more private.” He added, then hastily tacked on. “But not my place! Definitely not.”

Jean thought of the kid, Sam, and felt a chill run up his spine. He _knew_ there had been something off about him, right from the start. He glanced over at Eren, wondering if he’d gotten the same vibe. He was staring at Armin, brow crinkled, looking worried. As if feeling the weight of Jean’s gaze on him, he looked over, raising his eyebrows and grimacing. Jean decided to take decisive action.

“Alright.” He said lowly. “We’ll go back to the hotel room.” He hoped to god this was just small town superstition, or Armin being paranoid, but a funny feeling in his gut told him otherwise. His mom had always told him to go with his gut, and for once in his life, Jean was inclined to listen to her.

They left their drinks; half drunk and cooling on the table as they beat a hasty exit back to the car, Armin in tow.

\----------

The room was stuffy when they arrived, but Jean kept the curtains shut before offering Armin the only seat in the room. He and Eren took a seat on one of the beds opposite, the one they hadn’t been sleeping in. If Armin noticed that one of the beds was untouched, he didn’t mention it, just flicked his gaze around the room before settling on Eren. He exhaled.

“I don’t know where to start.” He admitted. Eren leaned forward so his elbows were on his knees, chin resting on his still-bandaged hands. The room was boiling, all shut up in the middle of the day, and Jean could already feel sweat beading his hairline. Irritably, he shrugged his suit jacket off, loosened his tie. Eren spared him a quick glance, but didn’t do the same, despite probably being just as hot as Jean. 

“From the beginning.” Eren said gently. It was amazing to Jean how quickly they had slipped back into being close. If he looked at them now, he would never have guessed that they’d met for the first time in fifteen years just that morning. Armin nodded slowly, glancing to Jean, who tried to look encouraging.

“Okay, well. I guess it kinda began when you and Mikasa left,” Armin began, eyes on the ground as he spoke. He glanced up quickly to gauge Eren’s reaction. “After the meteor thing, I mean.” He stopped, looking apologetic. Eren shook his head.

“It’s fine.” He muttered. “Carry on.”

“I wasn’t really aware of it, obviously, I mean I was too young to really care about the stuff that happened but my grandpa told me a few years ago. It was just weird stuff…like animals being killed, crops dying, crop circles-”

Eren cut him off, looking a little amused. “Yeah, but dude, we used to do crop circles, you know? What makes you think it wasn’t kids?”

Armin shot him a dark look. “You weren’t here, Mikasa wasn’t here. We didn’t want to do them without you. No kids were making those crop circles.”

Eren looked unconvinced, but crossed his arms and nodded for Armin to continue. Armin sighed and rolled his eyes, but carried on.

“Loads of people moved away because Lakin was in such a bad economic slump. You know how we depend on farming, and now all of a sudden nothing was growing, animals were being torn apart during the night.” Armin paused and gave them a serious look. “The place was barren, and this was over ten years ago. It’s even worse now.”

“That explains why there’s like, no one here.” Eren pointed out, elbowing Jean in the side.

Jean nodded, holding up his hands. “Look, this is bad shit alright, but what does it have to do with us?” Besides, he thought, they had actual stuff to be doing. There was an alien out there that they needed to take down, and fucking Levi waiting back in Virginia probably becoming more pissed every second that they didn’t return. 

Armin fixed him with a grave expression. “Thirteen years ago, the children arrived.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kinda short short update/awkward/unforgivably cheesy chapter ending?? i'm sorry i didn't want to break it up later and even more awkwardly lmao


	14. Chapter 14

Silence followed Armin’s words, stretching and expanding in the too-hot air, both Jean and Eren staring at him dumbly. Eventually, Eren broke it with an uneasy laugh, sitting back on the bed and frowning at Armin.

“Okay, I feel like we’re in some shitty sci-fi movie from the eighties, now.” He muttered, and laughed again, shooting Jean a confused look. Jean looked over to Armin, who was sitting curled up in the chair, knees to his chest, scowling at Eren’s kidding around.

“I’m serious.” He muttered. “Ten years ago they turned up and they still haven’t left.”

Jean frowned and held a hand up. “Back the fuck up, you’re telling me a load of unexplained kids turned up in this godforsaken town only a few years after the meteor impact?”

Armin shrugged and nodded, and Jean covered his face with his hands. “Please, explain.” He muttered, already putting it together in his head. He thought of the kid back in Armin’s shop, the one who apparently looked like Eren, and a strong feeling of dread settled over him. They were not fucking cut out for this. One washed up agent and a rookie, plus some local smart kid. They didn’t stand a chance.

Armin cut off his internal panicking as he began to explain himself. “Well, I can barely remember it, but I know from the start it was something the adults didn’t like.” He paused, and Jean supressed the urge to add ‘no shit’ to that last part, just nodded at him to continue. “They just kinda. Started showing up around town and it was just…weird shit because they looked like other kids from town? And that’s basically when the weird stuff started happening.” 

“What, like the crop circles and shit?” Eren butted in, leaning forward over his knees, looking rapt. Armin shook his head.

“That was before they came, but it didn’t stop afterwards.” He said, drawing his knees closer to his chest and glancing at the door, a nervous little movement that Jean suspected he couldn’t shake.

“Tell us more about the children.” Jean urged, a terrible sinking feeling of unease settling in his stomach. He didn’t want to jump to any conclusions, because although they’d had a suspicion that the kid who looked like Eren was the missing alien, this shook up their mission completely. 

“They don’t age.” Armin said quickly, and Jean felt his unease grow. “The one who looks like me turned up with the rest of them, and well, you’ve seen him. They don’t speak, they don’t eat or drink, they don’t sleep.” Armin stopped, looking scared and stressed out. “They don’t do anything but _watch_.” He added in a low voice, staring down at his knees. Jean felt a chill go up his spine, goosebumps coming up on his arms. This was on a larger scale than any of them were prepared for, and Jean groaned inwardly, mind working fast over how they could deal with it.

“There’s one of me!” Eren blurted out, and when Jean glanced over to him his face was pale, eyes wide and dark. “We were investigating the recent meteor and the woman at the farm said she saw a kid like me.”

Armin nodded. “There’s one of Mikasa too. The ones who don’t have…counterparts?” He pulled a face and shrugged. “They just wander around town.”

“So, what, everyone has an identical little kid trailing around after them?” Jean asked, stupefied. 

“No,” Armin shook his head, looking quickly to Eren then back to Jean. “Just the people who were kids when we were young.”

Jean felt Eren shift next to him, and when he looked over he was staring at Armin with something close to fear on his face. “Is it…everyone who was there that day?” He asked slowly, and when Armin hesitated then nodded, he groaned, bringing his hands to his face.

“What day?” Jean asked, feeling distinctly out of the loop. 

Armin glanced over at Eren before he spoke, looking hesitant. “Uh, when the last meteor fell…we were all on the farm, there was like a gang of us who always used to be together.” He glanced away. “We were all there when the meteor hit, and now there’s clones of all of us as kids.” He managed a wavering little smile. “Creepy, right?” He laughed flatly. Jean stared in amazement.

“You’re telling me that there’s creepy child clones of a load of you who were _present_ for the last meteor impact, and you didn’t tell anyone?” Jean asked in a disbelieving voice. “These kids don’t _age_ , they don’t _speak_ and you all ignore it and let them live in your _homes?_ ” He put his head in his hands in defeat, glancing at Armin through his fingers. “Does anyone in this town have a modicum of sense?” He asked desperately. Armin just scowled at him, and expression very reminiscent of Eren.

“You obviously don’t know small towns.” Armin said coldly. “Stuff like this is kept quiet.”

Jean groaned and rubbed the heels of his hands into his eyes. “That is the stupidest fucking shit I’ve ever heard in my life.” He muttered. He felt like yelling, putting his fist through a wall or something equally as stupid. He made a frustrated noise and clenched his fists. If anything, he was more pissed off than frightened, which was good. He functioned better when he was mad, better than where he was scared anyway.

The whole situation was ridiculous, like an exterminator turning up for a trapped bird and finding a fucking roach infestation. He thought bitterly of Hanji’s excitement over the alien and wondered how exciting she’d find it now.

“How many are there?” He asked tiredly, rubbing at his face with a grunt. 

Armin shrugged hesitantly. “I don’t know. I haven’t counted, but less than fifteen, for sure.”

Jean groaned and turned to Eren, ready to make some crack about his popularity here, but stopped dead when he saw how pale and freaked out he looked. “Eren, you alright?” He asked slowly, reaching out to put a hand between his shoulder blades. 

Eren flinched at the touch, blinking up at Jean, looking afraid and vulnerable. “Jean, I’m freaking out.” He muttered hoarsely, putting his face in his hands and groaning. “What the _fuck_.” He mumbled. “What the actual fuck, Armin.” 

Armin made a noise of agreement, looking down at his knees with blank eyes. Jean just stared at the two of them, frowning. 

“Eren,” He said in a low voice, waiting for him to look up before he continued. “This is so much bigger than we expected. We need to call for backup, or something. _Anything_.” He added, seeing Eren start to scowl at his words. “We can’t do this alone, there’s only two of us. This was supposed to be a fairly simple mission to test you and to see if I was ready to go back into this sort of stuff again. We’re not cut out for it.” He stressed, staring Eren down.

Eren made a frustrated noise, seemingly haven gotten over his minute of panic there. He looked stubborn, determined and thoroughly pissed off that Jean would even suggest that they couldn’t do it alone. “No, we can do this.” He said firmly, glaring when Jean shook his head in disbelief. “We can! We don’t need to ask for help.”

Jean held up his hands. “No way, I’m calling Levi and asking him what to do. This is much bigger than we can handle and if we fuck this up I have a bad feeling that the shit is gonna hit the fan.” He pointed at Armin. “You can help us because you’re smart and you know about what’s going on.”

Armin gave him a weak smile and nodded, uncurling himself from the chair a little. Jean nodded, and stood, resolved. 

“Okay,” He said, trying to take control of the situation, keep his emotions in check. “I’m gonna call Levi, and you,” He pointed at Eren, who was quietly seething on the bed, glaring so hard at the wall Jean was impressed he hadn’t lasered right through it with pure frustration. “Calm the fuck down, okay?” He added in a softer tone, making Eren look up in surprise. “It’ll be fine.” Jean said, ignoring his own personal little weight of dread that seemed to have taken up permanent residence in his stomach.

“Okay.” Eren said shortly, but Jean thought his glare was a little bit venomous as he turned away to dig his phone out of his discarded suit jacket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the delay in updates! i've recently started university so i'm super fuckin busy with uni stuff and social stuff and haven't found any time for writing so updates may be a little bit delayed...


	15. Chapter 15

Levi’s work line was engaged, unsurprisingly, as well as Smith’s when he tried it. As a last ditch attempt Jean tried Hanji, who he hoped would extract herself from her basement lab to try and find Levi and Erwin when she heard the news. No doubt she’d be ecstatic. 

She picked up after a long time, and instead of her voice, it was a man’s, sounding slightly frazzled as he said, “Hello?”

“Hanji?” Jean asked, confused.

“Oh, er, Moblit.” The mystery voice stuttered out. “This is Moblit.” He corrected, and Jean could hear Hanji asking who it was in the background. “I’m Dr. Zoe’s assistant.”

“Oh, it’s Agent Kirschtein,” Jean said, remembering the mousy haired man who’d been send ahead to recover the craft. “Can I speak to Dr. Zoe, please?”

“She’s up to her elbows in the craft, right now.” Moblit said, sounding a little stressed. “Can I take a message?”

“No.” Jean said firmly. “Tell her Jean _needs_ to speak to her about the alien.”

“Oh! Yes!” Jean heard Moblit relay his message, and then Hanji make an excited noise.

“Hand it over!” He heard her say. “Take this.” There was a clatter of metal, then Hanji came on the line, sounding a little out of breath. “Jean, hello.” She said forcefully. “What do you need? Don’t tell me you’ve found it.” She added excitedly.

“No, Hanji, there’s something big happening here.” He said seriously. “Can you get Agents Levi and Smith to come listen?”

“Oh, of course, I think so.” Hanji sounded serious all of a sudden, and he could hear her footsteps and the opening of a door on the other end. “Levi should be in his office, I’ll go now. Can you tell me now?” She asked, as Jean heard her ascending the basement stairs.

“I’d rather just tell the three of you at the same time.” Jean said, glancing over his shoulder at Eren, who seemed in deep discussion with Armin, who was sitting close with him on the bed.

“You’re all safe?” Hanji asked quickly. Jean could hear voices now, and the ringing of phones, so he assumed she was in the main room. 

“We’re fine.” He said. “There’ve just been some developments.” He laughed humourlessly.

“Bad?” Hanji asked.

“Not good.” Jean replied, eyes sliding over the room without seeing, listening to Hanji open a couple of doors, walk quickly down a hall.

“Two minutes, he’s not in his office.” Hanji said, sounding distracted. “You’re all okay, though?”

“We’re fine, honestly.” Jean assured. He heard her knock on a door and wait a second before opening it.

“Levi, Erwin, I’ve got Kirschtein on the phone here.” She must’ve put the phone down then, as her voice turned distant before returning. “I’m just gonna put you on speaker.” She told him.

“Kirschtein, what’s the matter?” Jean had never in a million years thought he’d be so glad to hear Levi’s cold voice, but now he sighed in relief and clutched his phone tighter.

“Sir, there’s been some developments to the case.” He said in a rush. Eren turned his head at the sound of his voice, watching as he crossed the room to take the seat Armin had left. 

“Go on.” Levi said shortly.

“You heard about the thing with the alien copying Eren’s DNA from Hanji?” Jean asked, and at Levi’s noise of affirmation he continued. “Well, we met up with a childhood friend of Eren’s today, who told us some disturbing stuff.” He took a deep breath, wondering how to phrase it. “Do you want the long story or the short one?”

“I think the short version will be adequate.” Smith’s deep voice said, and Jean nodded to himself.

He relayed the story quickly, trying not to cut the important parts out. He added in the part about the clones being those of the kids who’d been present at the last impact, as well as the fact that he’d personally met one earlier. When he finished, there was a long period of silence from the other end. He glanced across at Eren nervously, who raised his eyebrows in askance. Jean shrugged at him, startling when Smith’s voice came from the other end suddenly.

“Are you telling us the town is full of aliens?” He asked blankly, and Jean nodded before he realised he couldn’t see him.

“Uh, yes, sir. Probably.” He added. He heard Levi swear, and smiled despite himself. He imagined them all clustered around Smith’s big desk, the one with the picture of Levi and the grumpy cat. The normality of the picture hit him like a ton of bricks. God, what Jean would do for some normalcy. 

He could hear them talking amongst each other, just barely catching scraps of their conversation when the spoke a little louder. He could hear Levi’s low monotone mention something about reinforcements, and Hanji volunteering to come herself. 

“Kirschtein, still there?” Smith asked.

“Sir.” Jean said quickly.

“We’re gonna come down, just take a look around personally. If what you’re telling us if true, then this is a very serious situation. We’ll bring people in to take the children away that we can find, if what you’re telling us is true.”

“Yessir.” Jean said, trying to keep his relief from showing in his voice. 

“Expect us by nighttime, we’ll take the jet.” Levi added. “We’ll meet you at the farm. Too many government agents attract a lot of attention.” 

“We’ll be there.” Jean said, and hung up after they’d said their goodbyes, Erwin promising to call him when they landed.

He tucked his phone in his pocket and sighed, leaning forward over his knees and rubbing as his face. A small bubble of hope was rising in his chest. They’d come and sort this out. Jean could feel a distinct weight lifting off his shoulders.

“So?” Eren asked, jolting him out of his bubble of thought. Jean looked over to him with a half-smile.

“They’ll be here by tonight. We’re meeting them at the farm.” He told him. Eren frowned at the news, hunching his shoulders sulkily. “Don’t be like that.” Jean said frustratedly. “You know very well we can’t handle this by ourselves.”

“We haven’t even tried.” Eren muttered grumpily. “We’re meant to be proving ourselves with this mission.”

Jean sighed, massaging at his temples. He could feel a headache coming on. “You’ve got plenty of time to prove yourself, Eren. You know that just two agents can’t handle something on this large a scale. Calling them was the only option.”

“So what, they’re gonna do our job for us?” Eren asked, and all of a sudden Jean found himself angry at him. Angry because he was a stubborn little fuck who wouldn’t back down, wouldn’t let anything go, wouldn’t ask for help. 

“Stop being a child about this.” He snapped, and rose to stand in front of Eren, who stood as well, glowering.

“Maybe you start taking some decisive action around here.” Eren hissed, glaring up at him. Jean laughed mirthlessly, a short ugly sound. “Stop relying on other people to finish things for you.”

Jean shook his head, smiling humourlessly. “You gotta know when to ask for help, Eren. You’ll learn.” He added condescendingly. Eren bristled.

“Guys?” 

Both of them whirled around at the sound of Armin’s voice, and he stared up at them with a frown. 

“What?” Jean snapped, feeling bad immediately after when Armin flinched. “Sorry.” He muttered, dragging a hand down his face and taking a step back from Eren.

“You shouldn’t be arguing.” Armin said softly, speaking mainly to Eren. “Jean’s not the one you’re fighting.”

Eren stared at him for a minute, before his posture softened and he hung his head. “Yeah.” He muttered, and cast a quick glance Jean’s way. “You’re right.” He said, holding eye contact. The corner of his lips tugged up a little, and Jean snorted and shook his head, glancing away with a rueful smile. They both knew that was as good an apology as either of them were going to get, and the atmosphere in the room relaxed. 

“You need the help.” Armin said gently, turning to Eren, who glanced away, eyes on the wall. “Jean’s right, two of you aren’t enough.”

“I know.” Eren mumbled testily, tugging at his tie distractedly. He shot Armin a quick glance, and rolled his eyes at his expression. “Jesus, I know okay? I’m just.” He made a frustrated noise. “Calling for backup seems like we’re giving up at this point.” 

Jean took a seat on the bed again and put his face in his hands, rubbing at his stubbly cheeks and trying to remember the last time he’d shaved. God, he felt rough. “They never expected it to potentially be this bad.” He mumbled into his hands. “Otherwise they would’ve put more agents out from the get-go.” 

Eren made a noncommittal noise but took a seat next to Jean, leaned into his side a little. Jean nudged him back, trying to put as much comfort into the touch as possible. 

“You should probably get some sleep before we have to go meet them.” Jean said, glancing over to Armin, who was watching them closely. Jean felt himself colour, hoping Armin hadn’t picked up on anything between them. Talk about unprofessional. “You can stay here too, if you like.” He offered, and when Armin’s gaze flicked between the two beds and back to the two of them Jean cleared his throat embarrassedly. “I’ll stay awake and wait for their call. We’ll probably be up all night if they come in late and they’ll want to speak to you personally, so.”  
“Okay.” Armin said slowly, and he gave Eren a little shove in the shoulder as he crossed to the untouched bed. “Get some sleep, Eren. You look exhausted.”

He did. The deep bags under his eyes looked like bruises, and his whole body seemed slumped in tiredness. He nodded grudgingly before pulling at his tie, fingers clumsy on the knot.

“C’mon.” Jean said, suddenly feeling a little sorry for him. It couldn’t be easy news to take, considering the whole deal with his past. He undid Eren’s tie for him, standing to sling it over the table before Eren handed him his holster and jacket and shuffled into bed. 

“Wake me up when they call.” He said, curling up on top of the covers and needling Jean with a sharp look. 

“Yeah.” Jean said, taking a seat in the chair Armin had just vacated. “I’ll wake you up.” He said, and sat back to watch the hours tick away as Armin and Eren slept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally....i updated.... 
> 
> i'm really sorry this fic has been on a weird semi-hiatus recently... i've been very busy with uni and not in the best state of mind to write so expect sporadic updates...i'm sorry....
> 
> hope you liked the chapter though?? oh and please point out any errors you see...


	16. Chapter 16

They arrived at approximately eight o’clock that night. Jean watched from Mary’s kitchen as a dozen sleek black cars pulled up in front of the farmhouse, headlights swinging across the house, flooding the kitchen with light. Eren, who sat across from him, cradling a now-cold mug of tea, leapt up to peek out the windows. He looked tense, the line of his back ramrod straight. Armin and Jean exchanged twin looks of concern. 

They’d decided to head down to the farm before Levi called, giving them enough time to explain why there would suddenly be a flock of black suited men and women converging upon Mary’s kitchen. She’d taken it well, sent the kids off to a neighbouring farm for this night, stocked up on coffee. She now lingered awkwardly in the doorway of the living room, stealing glances back and forth from Jean to her father, who was asleep in a chair in front of the fire, seemingly unconcerned by his daughter’s odd guests. 

Eren had been twitchy since the morning, on edge every time Jean’s phone made a noise. The cause of nerves became apparent as soon as Smith crossed the threshold of the house, Hanji and Levi in tow. He spun away from the window as a tall, dark haired girl stepped through after them, and Jean caught the stunned expression on his face before he crossed the room and pulled her into a fierce hug.

The trio ignored them, Smith going to shake Mary’s hand as Hanji peeked around the room, trying to seem inconspicuous about her nosiness. Jean just stared around at everyone before leaning closer to Armin and pointing covertly towards where Eren and the girl were now talking in low voices. She probably the most gorgeous woman Jean had ever seen in his life, even when she was scowling at Eren in an oddly maternal way, arms crossed over her chest.

“Who’s that?” He muttered, catching Armin’s attention. He looked up curiously, expression melting to one of surprise as he caught sight of the pair.

“Oh my god.” He said, stunned, then pushed his chair back from the table to go join the two of them. The girl spotted him and her scowl smoothed out into a warm smile as she held her arms out to give Armin a hard hug.

Jean sat at the table with his empty mug of coffee, feeling distinctly abandoned.

“Kirschtein.”

Jean glanced up at the sound of his name, then startled as he realised it was Erwin Smith looming over him. “Sir.” He said, standing up hurriedly. “How was your flight?”

“Stressful.” Smith said warmly, and took the seat Eren had just vacated. Mary was at his shoulder in an instant, offering tea or coffee to anyone who’d listen. “Coffee, please.” He said with a smile, then turned back to Jean, expression slipping into something more serious. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to go over your story once more, for the benefit of the agents here who we’ve given only the essential information to.” Jean nodded and flicked his gaze to Levi, on Smith’s other side. He looked as bored as ever, hooded grey eyes following Mary’s movements around the kitchen.

“Uh, it’s probably best if Armin and Eren fill in stuff that I can’t remember.” Jean said, then cleared his throat embarrassedly as Eren turned at the sound of his name, shooting Jean a quick, distracted look. 

“Jaeger.” Smith said over his shoulder, and Eren snapped his attention back to them.

“Yes, sir?” He asked, taking a grudging step away from the dark haired girl towards the table. Jean looked up at him through his hair, trying not to stare and probably failing. What was this? Some sort of long lost girlfriend who’d followed him into the FBI? Armin seemed to know who she was too, judging by the way he was chattering away to her. The corner of her mouth was curved in a smile as she listened, but her eyes were sharp on Eren, following him as he moved to stand next to Smith.

“I want you and Kirschtein to brief the other agents on what’s been happening here. We didn’t have time to put together a new case file, so they’re going off the old one and whatever information you can give us.”

“Alright then.” Jean said, flicking his gaze to Eren then back to Smith. “We’ll just give them a quick run through of what’s happened, and then maybe try and work this mess out.”

Smith nodded briskly, which Jean took as his cue to stand and address the assembled agents, Eren by his side. He looked a lot less on edge as he had been, and Jean wondered if it was the sudden responsibility or because of the girl. Clearing his throat, and putting his curiousness aside, he began to give the room a brief summary of everything that had changed from the original report. A couple of times Eren butted in to supply some information Jean had missed out, and Jean let him, comfortable for the opportunity to show him off to Smith. He’d be a good agent, Jean thought, watching him as he detailed what they’d found out about the children. Reckless, definitely, but brave and fucking single minded, which was something that didn’t go amiss in their line of work.

He only realised he hadn’t been keeping up with the talk when Eren turned to look at him expectantly, and Jean startled and tore his gaze back to the roomful of agents. He coughed. “Uh, so-”

“I was just saying about the children being duplicates of those who’d been at the scene of the last impact.” Eren supplied helpfully, a trace of amusement around his eyes that Jean hadn’t seen since before they arrived in Lakin. Jean cleared his throat again, nodded.

“Basically, all you need to know is that there’s around about seven children, only five of them have counterparts in this town.” He thought quickly, understanding that the next decision he made would be scrutinised deeply by Smith and Levi. “I think there’s more than enough of you to pack those ones up, it shouldn’t be an issue, and take them back to HQ.” He shot a nervous look Smith’s way, and was relieved to see him nodding. “I suggest going out in groups of three and asking door to door, try and find them.”

A young woman raised her hand, and Jean nodded at her to speak. “What about the others that roam around, like the one seen around here?” Her expression was pinched with nerves, and Jean suddenly realised just how young the group was. Maybe a new batch of agents that showed enough promise that Smith wanted to try them out in the field, so green they were probably sprouting shoots from their asses. He frowned. 

“Myself and Jaeger will take care of those. There should be only two, unless others have wandered off alone.” He shot a glance at Eren, who looked perfectly composed, the picture of business-like detachment. “Are there any other questions?” He asked, and when the group stayed quiet, he nodded. “I say we start in the morning, we don’t want to wake the good people of Lakin this late in the night.” He said with a grin, and a few agents managed half-hearted smiles. The expression of the girl Eren had been talking to before stayed stony, and Armin, standing next to her, kept shooting careful little glances between her and Eren. “And again, we suspect they’re just here for recon, so I doubt they’ll put up a fight.” He added, before signalling that he was done and turning to Eren, whose expression was faltering slightly.

“You alright?” Jean murmured, leaning back on the counter as Smith grouped people up. Eren nodded, then shrugged.

“We’re going after the one who looks like me and my sister, aren’t we?” He muttered, lips barely moving as he scanned the room, not looking at Jean.

“Well, yeah.” Jean replied. “Besides, you’ve got personal beef with the little fuckers, right? It’ll be satisfying.”

“You sure they won’t put up a fight, though?” Eren asked, finally turning to look at him. Jean had expected fear in his eyes, and wasn’t prepared for the intense burning gaze that settled upon him. Fuck, Eren looked ready to tear apart Lakin with his bare hands, just to get them on that alien’s throat. “Because I wouldn’t mind giving a little back of what it gave to me.” 

Jean laughed in surprise, crossing his arms against his chest and leaning forward a little into Eren’s space. “You angry?” He asked, and then grinned when Eren nodded tightly. He patted Eren’s shoulder. “Good,” He said. “You’re gonna need it.”

\---------

The mystery girl, it turned out, was Mikasa. Eren’s sister.

Jean learned this fact after being forcibly pinned against the wall of the house after nipping out for a quick smoke break. Not the sexy kind of pinning either, the kind where he was very glad the girl didn’t have a fucking _knife_. Her knee was very close to his groin as well, again, not in the sexy way. Jean made a pathetic sound of surprise.

“Let me come with you and Eren.” She murmured, voice icy in the velvet dark. Jean could just about make out the dark glint of her eyes, a small raised scar on her cheekbone, pink against her pale skin. He gurgled intelligibly. She lightened the pressure on his windpipe.

“Who the fuck are you?” He groaned, trying to force her off him to no avail. The girl was _seriously_ strong. His cigarette burnt down between his fingers, forgotten. 

The girl gave him an unreadable look, then stepped back a little, just enough room for Jean to move as fast as possible away from her. Rubbing at his throat, he regarded her warily. 

“Mikasa, Eren’s sister.” She said, and Jean gulped in surprise but quickly composed himself.

“Why should I let you come with us?” He asked suspiciously, taking a drag off his cigarette as she stared him down. “What’s it to you?” Especially after she’d crept soundlessly up on him and had him immobilised in a second. A small part of him stung over that, a senior agent being pinned by a rookie fresh out of her entry exam.

“Because nothing bad will happen to Eren on my watch.” She shot back, and just like that, Jean relaxed. He tapped his ash onto the ground, watched Mikasa from under his eyelashes. She stood stock still, with a kind of coiled energy that reminded Jean of a cat. 

“Well, we have that in common, then.” He said calculatingly, and watched as Mikasa relaxed as well. “I’m not gonna let him get hurt.”

“He’s reckless.” She replied, sounding a degree less hostile. The light from the windows illuminated her now she’d stepped back, and Jean had to force himself not to oogle the long line of her neck, her cropped black hair exposing it. He straightened up. “He won’t listen to what you say if he gets mad.”

“I know.” Jean said affably, taking a drag off his cigarette and exhaling. He watched the smoke hang in the air between them, no breeze to take it away. Mikasa wrinkled her nose at the smell, cracked her knuckles in a gesture that Jean recognised from Eren.

“What do you plan to do?” She asked after a pregnant pause, and Jean regarded her through the dark, weighing up whether it was worth telling her. She was evidently protective of Eren, and for a split second he considered letting her team up with them. She’d keep Eren in check (he ran a real risk of being too unpredictable for any kind of delicate operation) and if Jean remembered Sasha’s gossiping correctly, she had a good chance of being the next Levi Ackerman, considering her skill. He dismissed it a moment later, too many cooks spoiling the broth and all that. 

“We’re gonna track it down,” He said simply. “And we’re either gonna end up killing it or taking it alive. Nothing more to say about it, really.” He spread his hands in a gesture of affable ease, and Mikasa’s eyes narrowed. 

“I doubt it’ll be that easy.” There was nothing mean about her tone; she was just stating exactly what she thought. All of a sudden, Jean decided he liked her. He’d always liked people who didn’t fuck around. He shrugged and ground the butt of cigarette under his heel.

“Probably not.” He admitted, stepping past her into the doorway, where he stopped and looked back over his shoulder. She was staring up at him, hands crossed over her chest and hip cocked in a closed off, prickly way. “I’ll make sure he’s safe.” He said quietly, glancing back into the room where it looked like Levi was quietly reprimanding him on the state of his hands. Jean felt an odd swell of warmth in his chest as he looked at him, and nodded sharply. “They’ll have to come through me first.” He added with conviction, before stepping through the door to join Eren, leaving Mikasa alone in the warm darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i really want to apologise for the hiatus this fic has been on (i haven't updated since october?? literally yikes) i've been having a lot of Shit going on re: university, mental health etc yadda yadda but anyway. here's a chapter that is super short and i'm incredibly sorry and hope to get back into the groove of writing sometime soon
> 
> if you wanna keep up with my sporadic writing you find me on twitter @neckworu and tumblr as girlshinji


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